Abstract
The purpose of our study was to investigate which organizational levels and factors determine the number of resident handlings in eldercare. We conducted a multi-level study, stratified on day and evening shifts, including information on four levels: nursing homes (n = 20), wards within nursing homes (day, n = 120; evening, n = 107), eldercare workers within wards (day, n = 619; evening, n = 382), and within eldercare workers (i.e., days within eldercare workers; day, n = 5572; evening, n = 2373). We evaluated the influence of each level on the number of resident handlings using variance components analysis and multivariate generalized linear mixed models. All four levels contributed to the total variance in resident handlings during day and evening shifts, with 13%/20% at “nursing homes”, 21%/33% at “wards within nursing homes”, 25%/31% at “elder-care workers within wards”, and 41%/16% “within eldercare workers”, respectively. The percentage of residents with a higher need for physical assistance, number of residents per shift, occupational position (only within day shifts), and working hours per week (only within day shifts) were significantly associated with the number of resident handlings performed per shift. Interventions aiming to modify number of resident handlings in eldercare ought to target all levels of the eldercare organization.
Highlights
Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are highly prevalent among the working-age population [1,2,3] and impose significant costs for the individual, workplaces, and society [4,5].Eldercare workers represent a highly vulnerable working group for MSDs, where annual prevalence of low back pain and neck/shoulder pain is between 51%–71% and 31%–52%, respectively [6,7]
As the analysis of this study is stratified on day and evening shifts, it is only possible for the eldercare workers to have one registration each day
This means that the number of days registered by the eldercare workers and the corresponding measured day-to-day variation is equivalent to the number of shifts registered by eldercare workers and shift-to-shift variation
Summary
Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are highly prevalent among the working-age population [1,2,3] and impose significant costs for the individual, workplaces, and society [4,5]. Eldercare workers represent a highly vulnerable working group for MSDs, where annual prevalence of low back pain and neck/shoulder pain is between 51%–71% and 31%–52%, respectively [6,7]. Resident handling activities comprise one of the core tasks of eldercare work [10]. These tasks include lifting, repositioning, turning, help with support stockings, pushing and pulling residents in portable chairs, and kneeling. Previous studies conducted in healthcare settings have found that the number of resident handling activities per work shift is between
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