A needs assessment of perceived life quality and life stressors among medical hospital employees

Abstract

This study was designed to assist an employee‐counseling program in a medical hospital by assessing the life quality and life stressors of its employees. 246 employees completed a written questionnaire which included a life events inventory and the Perceived Quality of Life (PQOL) Inventory (Andrews & Withey, 1976). Items on both inventories covered the areas of job, family/support, and financial affairs. Items measuring self‐efficacy from the PQOL scale served as the criterion for potential counseling service utilization. Results indicated that family‐support concerns were the most predictive of perceptions of self‐efficacy. In addition, negatively perceived life changes were more powerful predictors of life quality than were life changes per se. Finally, employees who were identified as less satisfied in the various quality of life areas were separated from their spouses, over 55 years of age, and had lower education levels, large families, and low incomes.