Announcement:
2007 National Home and Hospice Care Survey
to Begin Includes New Home Health Aide Supplement

For Release:  June 29, 2007

Contact: Genevieve Strahan (301) 458-4747

The 2007 National Home and Hospice Care Survey (NHHCS)  conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will begin in August 2007 to collect information on this important segment of health care in America. The latest in a series of surveys about home health agencies and hospices, the 2007 survey will include a first-ever, nationwide survey of home health aides, the group that provides the majority of direct care to the Nation’s 1.5 million home health and hospice patients.

As in previous surveys conducted periodically since 1992 and most recently in 2000, the 2007 survey will obtain data on home health and hospice agencies, their patients, and staff. The survey obtains information from a nationally representative sample of home health agencies and hospices based on interviews with the administrators and staff. The survey collects data on the agencies including, ownership, number of patients, certification status, services provided, and basic charges. For patients, data are obtained on demographic characteristics, functional and health status, diagnoses, services received, and source of payment.

2007 Survey Expanded and Improved

The upcoming survey has been redesigned and expanded to better meet the data needs of researchers and health care planners working to ensure that quality long-term care will be available for the Nation’s growing senior population. The survey will utilize computer-assisted personal interviewing. This computerized system speeds the flow of data making it possible to release information on a timelier basis and makes it easier for respondents to participate in the survey. Another change is an increase in the current home health patient and hospice discharge sample size, allowing more detailed and better information to be collected about these two populations.

The survey has been expanded to include new and critical topics, such as:

JCAHO accreditation

electronic information systems

cultural competency

immunization policies and practices

end-of-life practices and care, advance directives

special service programs

hospitalizations/emergency department admissions

medications, pain assessment, and pain relief

family and caregiver services

community-based waiver program participant

pressure ulcers

behavior/mood symptoms

falls

out-of-pocket charges

education, specialty credentials, and length of service for key staff

Home Health Aide Supplement Added

The NHHAS will provide information needed to recruit, retain and develop this essential paraprofessional long-term care workforce. The survey is designed to determine the likelihood that workers will continue in their present positions and the factors that affect those decisions, including job satisfaction, environment, training, advancement opportunities, benefits, working conditions, and personal or family demands. This first national survey of home health aides will be conducted as a separate telephone interview with a sample of workers who provide home health and hospice patients assistance with Activities of Daily Living (eating, transferring, toileting, dressing and bathing).

More Information

For more information about the NHHCS, check the website. Reports and data from previous surveys are also available in publications and public-use data files on the Web. Findings from the surveys are analyzed and disseminated widely in a series of articles and electronic data products. To sign up for the Long-term Care listserv, to learn more about the survey, and to receive announcements when data are released, go to the NHHCS website or leave a message at 301-458-4747.