Abstract
BackgroundIn workplace health promotion, all potential resources needs to be taken into consideration, not only factors relating to the absence of injury and the physical health of the workers, but also psychological aspects. A dynamic balance between the resources of the individual employees and the demands of work is an important prerequisite. In the home care services, there is a noticeable trend towards increased psychosocial strain on employees at work. There are a high frequency of work-related musculoskeletal disorders and injuries, and a low prevalence of sustainable work ability. The aim of this research was to identify factors promoting work ability and self-efficacy in care aides and assistant nurses within home care services.MethodsThis study is based on cross-sectional data collected in a municipality in northern Sweden. Care aides (n = 58) and assistant nurses (n = 79) replied to a self-administered questionnaire (response rate 46%). Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were performed to assess the influence of several independent variables on self-efficacy (model 1) and work ability (model 2) for care aides and assistant nurses separately.ResultsPerceptions of personal safety, self-efficacy and musculoskeletal wellbeing contributed to work ability for assistant nurses (R2adj of 0.36, p < 0.001), while for care aides, the safety climate, seniority and age contributed to work ability (R2adj of 0.29, p = 0.001). Self-efficacy was associated with the safety climate and the physical demands of the job in both professions (R2adj of 0.24, p = 0.003 for care aides), and also by sex and age for the assistant nurses (R2adj of 0.31, p < 0.001).ConclusionsThe intermediate factors contributed differently to work ability in the two professions. Self-efficacy, personal safety and musculoskeletal wellbeing were important for the assistant nurses, while the work ability of the care aides was associated with the safety climate, but also with the non-changeable factors age and seniority. All these factors are important to acknowledge in practice and in further research. Proactive workplace interventions need to focus on potentially modifiable factors such as self-efficacy, safety climate, physical job demands and musculoskeletal wellbeing.
Highlights
In workplace health promotion, all potential resources needs to be taken into consideration, factors relating to the absence of injury and the physical health of the workers, and psychological aspects
It has been shown that many workers underestimate their actual risk of developing work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) [7]
Response rate and personal descriptive of the participants The 137 (46%) participants had a mean age of 45 years, 93% were women and 42% (n = 58) were care aides while the others (n = 79) were assistant nurses
Summary
All potential resources needs to be taken into consideration, factors relating to the absence of injury and the physical health of the workers, and psychological aspects. Perceived self-efficacy in performing physical tasks, fulfilling role expectations, prioritising health and safety at work and managing musculoskeletal disorders is important for a person’s health, safety and work ability [9,10,11]. Job control and social support are well-known determinants of good health, as clarified by Karasek and Theorell in the development of the demand-control-support model [15,16,17] This model was applied in research on workplace safety [18,19]. In addition to having the potential to support specific kinds of behaviour and to ensure certain safety-related outcomes, measured, for example, in terms of low injury rates [20], the social environment can play a role in supporting the work ability of its members [2]. The safety climate and its relation to safe behaviour has recently begun to be explored in medical care sectors [22,23]
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