SAGE & GREIMAN: CORE & HRSA: Understanding personal assistance services experiences in rural states
Project Description:
Research Questions
How are PAS workers and PAS needs distributed across geography and how does this correlate with other social and economic factors?
What barriers do PAS workers experience in delivering rural PAS services?
What strategies do PAS workers use to overcome barriers to delivering rural PAS services?
Stage 1: Getting a Lay of the Land: Mapping Worker-to-Need Ratios
Create county-level PAS worker-to-need ratios across Alaska, Arizona, and Montana (foci states of a current RTC project), integrating these maps with other spatially-specific context and demographic information (e.g., poverty rates, racial diversity, employment).
Stage 2: Participatory Photo Mapping: How Rural PAS Workers Make it Work
Participatory Photo Mapping (PPM) is a research method which utilizes digital tools, photo-elicitation interviews, and participatory action research (PAR) practices to generate shared contextual knowledge about individual lived experiences.
Methods
Twenty-four rural PAS workers in Alaska, Arizona, and Montana (eight per state) will participate in this research project. Participants will be recruited through existing advisory boards and a Consumer Direct Care Network survey. They will be trained in PPM and provided digital devices, if needed. Participant will provide photographs and location information that represent their lived experiences as rural PAS workers. In collaboration with UCSFs Health Workforce Research Center on Long-Term Care, we will conduct photo-elicitation interviews with each participant. Photos, narratives, and location information will be compiled and qualitatively analyzed. Utilizing multiple media methods, Story Maps for each state will be drafted and reviewed with project participants. Finally, project participants and researchers will share finalized Story Maps policymakers and stakeholders.
Deliverables
Executive Summary
Interactive, electronic report (Story Map)
Keyword(s):
Personal Assistant Services, Rural, PAS, story maps
Core Function(s):
Performing Research or Evaluation
Area of Emphasis
Health-Related Activities
Target Audience:
Professionals and Para-Professionals, Family Members/Caregivers, Adults with Disabilities
Unserved or Under-served Populations:
Geographic Areas, Rural/Remote
Primary Target Audience Geographic Descriptor:
National
COVID-19 Related Data:
N/A
