Workplace Support, Role Overload, and Job Satisfaction of Direct Care Workers in Assisted Living

Abstract

This study aims to enhance our understanding of job satisfaction of direct care workers in assisted living facilities. Low job satisfaction is related to high turnover rates and lower quality of care in assisted living. We integrate two theories of job satisfaction to investigate relationships among workplace support, role overload, and job satisfaction. Data are from a survey of 984 direct care workers in 108 assisted living facilities. Results from multilevel hierarchical linear models (HLM) indicate that job satisfaction varies both within and among facilities. Job satisfaction is negatively associated with role overload, and it is positively associated with institutional support, supervisor instrumental and emotional support, and coworker emotional support. These workplace support measures and role overload are separately and independently associated with job satisfaction. Enhancing job satisfaction of assisted living direct care workers will likely require a multipronged approach that includes improving institutional, supervisor, and coworker support while simultaneously directly addressing role overload.