Well-being of professional older adults’ caregivers in Alberta’s assisted living and long-term care facilities: a cross-sectional study

BMC Geriatrics

Research

Ifeoma Blessing Nwosu¹  Joshua O. Ojo²  Adesola Christiana Odole²  Ezinne Chika Ekediegwu³  Jon Doan⁴  Christina Nord⁴  Oluwagbohunmi A. Awosoga⁵  Claudia Steinke⁵  Ogochukwu Kelechi Onyeso⁶  Sheli Murphy⁷ 

[1] Department of Medical Rehabilitation, Faculty of Health Sciences and Technology, College of Health Sciences, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra, Nigeria;Department of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Clinical Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo, Nigeria;Emerging Researchers and Professionals in Ageing-African Network, Abuja, Nigeria;Department of Medical Rehabilitation, Faculty of Health Sciences and Technology, College of Health Sciences, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra, Nigeria;Faculty of Art and Sciences, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, AB, Canada;Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, AB, Canada;Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, AB, Canada;Emerging Researchers and Professionals in Ageing-African Network, Abuja, Nigeria;Rural Health, Professional Practice, Research and Libraries, Covenant Care, Edmonton, AB, Canada;

关键词: Absenteeism;    Continuing care;    Health status;    Job stress;    Nursing home;    Mental health;    Physical health;    Quality of life;    Turnover;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12877-023-03801-9

 received in 2022-11-21, accepted in 2023-02-06,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundFor the care need of older adults, long-term care (LTC) and assisted living (AL) facilities are expanding in Alberta, but little is known about the caregivers’ well-being. The purpose of the study was to investigate the physical health conditions, mental and emotional health (MEH), health behaviour, stress levels, quality of life (QOL), and turnover and absenteeism (TAA) among professional caregivers in Alberta’s LTC and AL facilities.MethodsThis cross-sectional survey involved 933 conveniently selected caregivers working in Alberta’s LTC and AL facilities. Standardised questions were selected from the Canadian Community Health Survey, Patient Health Questionnaire-9, and Short Form-36 QOL survey revalidated and administered to the participants. The new questionnaire was used to assess the caregivers’ general health condition (GHC), physical health, health behaviour, stress level, QOL, and TAA. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Cronbach alpha, Pearson’s correlation, one-way analysis of variance, and multiple linear regression.ResultsOf 1385 surveys sent to 39 facilities, 933 valid responses were received (response rate = 67.4%). The majority of the caregivers were females (90.8%) who were ≥ 35 years (73.6%), worked between 20 to 40 h weekly (67.3%), and were satisfied with their GHC (68.1%). The Registered Nurses had better GHC (mean difference [MD] = 0.18, p = 0.004) and higher TAA than the Health Care Aides (MD = 0.24, p = 0.005). There were correlations between caregivers’ TAA and each of MEH (r = 0.398), QOL (r = 0.308), and stress (r = 0.251); p < 0.001. The most significant predictors of TAA were the propensity to quit a workplace or the profession, illness, job stress, and work-related injury, F (5, 551) = 76.62, p < 0.001, adjusted R2 = 0.998.ConclusionReducing the caregivers’ job stressors such as work overload, inflexible schedule, and poor remuneration, and improving their quality of life, health behaviour, and mental, emotional, and physical health conditions may increase their job satisfaction and reduce turnover and absenteeism.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2023

【 图 表 】

Fig. 8