On-the-job performance of home health aides: A structural interpretation

This is a structural analysis of the causes of poor job performance in one of the fastest growing occupations in the Health Care Service sector. It is overwhelmingly dominated by Black and Hispanic women. Aides must negotiate two social organizations: their official job duties are regulated by administrators who have little knowledge of Aides' work environments. The other structure that they encounter involves the expectations of patients. Since many of the tasks performed by Aides fall into society's classification of woman's work, there is an expectation on the part of patients that Health Workers will fulfill the mother/maid role rather than the role of nursing paraprofessional laid out by the Home Care industry.