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PhD student Andrew Longhurst was part of a research team examining the effects of subcontracting in long-term care homes from the perspective of care staff whose voices have been typically absent in making long-term care policies.

The study was recently published online in the Canadian Journal on Aging. While the research was conducted prior to COVID-19, it contributes new evidence on how subcontracting and the erosion of working conditions play a major role in the spread of COVID-19 in long-term care homes.

Abstract: Subcontracting long-term care (LTC), whereby facilities contracted with third party agencies to provide care to residents, became widespread in British Columbia after 2002. This qualitative study aimed to understand the impact of subcontracting from the perspective of care workers. We interviewed 11 care workers employed in subcontracted facilities to explore their perceptions of caring and working under these conditions. Our overarching finding was one of loss. Care workers lost wages, benefits, security, and voice. Their working conditions worsened, with workload and turnover increasing, resulting in a loss of experienced staff and a loss of time to provide care. These findings call into question the promises of quality and flexibility that legitimated policies permitting subcontracting, while adding to the mounting evidence that subcontracting LTC harms both workers and residents.

The open-access article is available .