Association between work ability and work stressors: cross-sectional survey of elderly services and health and social care service employees

Abstract

Background Work in the health and social care services (HSS) is very stressful and sickness absences are high. Nevertheless, little is known about their work stressors and work ability. The first aim of this study is to describe the prevalence of different work stressors and their accumulation among eldercare workers compared to general HSS workers. Second aim is to analyze associations between different work stressors and work ability and thus provide information on factors that are important in enhancing work ability. Methods This cross-sectional survey examined HSS employees in Finland in 2020. The response rate was 67% (N = 22,502). Descriptive analyses were used to describe the control variables and the differences between the work stressors of general HSS and eldercare employees. After this, multinomial logistic regression analysis revealed the association between work stressors and work ability. Results Eldercare employees experienced more often moral distress than HSS employees in general, and this further lowers their work ability. Single work stressors––Karasek’s strain, Siegrist’s ERI, organizational injustice and moral distress––increased the odds of low work ability (OR range 1.4–2.5) in comparison to no work stressors. However, the association with single stressors was roughly one third of that with the accumulation of all four work stressors (OR = 6.8). Thus, the accumulation of several stressors was most harmful for work ability. Conclusions This study provides novel information on the accumulation of work stressors in relation to work ability. The results suggest that in order to enhance work ability, HSS organizations should pay more attention to preventing several stressors from accumulating. Eldercare organizations in particular need to develop effective measures for lowering moral distress.

Synergistic Interaction between Job Stressors and Psychological Distress during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…To our knowledge, this is the first study that has examined the synergistic interaction effect of three job stressors on workers’ health. Our results are in line with those of Juvani et al [ 12 ], who found that the accumulation of several job stressors is detrimental to mental health, and Selander et al [ 32 ], who discovered that the accumulation of several job stressors is associated with low work ability. The results of this study are also somewhat comparable to those of Choi et al [ 20 ], who found a strong synergistic effect between job control and social support at work when job demands were low.…”

Understanding Moral Distress among Eldercare Workers: A Scoping Review

“…Since moral distress is an important job stressor, especially when clustering with other stressors [ 1 ], effective interventions should be developed. The strategies found in this scoping review can be used to plan future interventions.…”

“…A higher number of elderly people and a diminishing workforce pose major challenges to HSS in Western countries. Lack of workforce and simultaneous work stressors, such as moral distress, high job strain, effort–reward imbalance, and organizational injustice, increase the risk of poor work ability, especially when accumulating on the same individuals [ 1 ].…”

“…HSS employees regularly encounter ethical dilemmas when ethical traditions and principles in care, such as patient autonomy and beneficence, conflict [ 2 ]. This can lead to moral distress [ 2 ], which is associated with poor work ability [ 1 ]. Earlier studies have described ethical dilemmas in public health care [ 3 , 4 ], in clinical nursing [ 2 , 5 ], and among nursing managers [ 6 , 7 ].…”

Aspects of Ethical Conflicts and their Implications for Work-Related Well-Being: A Cross-Sectional Study among Health and Social Care Professionals

“…Employees have issued to resign from their jobs because they feel incapable of working according to their values due to the scarcity of time and poor management (e.g., Lantela & Maskonen, 2022). Not surprisingly, moral distress is prevalent among Finnish health and social care employees, especially in eldercare (Selander et al, 2022).…”