Psychosocial work load and stress in the geriatric care

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Due to the decrease in informal care by family members and the demographic development, the importance of professional geriatric care will rise considerably. Aim of this study was to investigate the psychosocial workplace situation for employees in this profession.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The German version of the COPSOQ (Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire) was used for the assessment of psychosocial factors at work. The instrument includes 22 scales and 3 single items concerning demands, control, stress, support, and strain.</p> <p>Results between two study groups of geriatric care were compared to each other as well as to employees in general hospital care and a general population mean (COPSOQ database).</p> <p>Statistical analysis included t-tests, ANOVA and multiple comparisons of means. Statistical significance (p < 0.01, two-tailed) and a difference of at least 5 points in mean values were defined as the relevant threshold.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In total 889 respondents from 36 institutions took part in the study. 412 worked in Home Care (HC), 313 in Geriatric Nursing Homes (GNH), 164 in other professions (e.g. administration).</p> <p>Comparison between HC and GNH showed more favourable values for the first group for the most scales, e.g. lower quantitative and emotional demands and less work-privacy conflict, better possibilities for development etc. Compared to external values from the German COPSOQ database for general hospital care (N = 1.195) and the total mean across all professions, COPSOQ-total (N = 11.168), the results are again positive for HC workers on most of the scales concerning demands and social support. The only negative finding is the very low amount of social relations at work due to the obligation to work alone most of the time. Employees in GNH rate predictability, quality of leadership and feedback higher when compared to general hospital care and show some further favourable mean values compared to the COPSOQ mean value for all professions. A disadvantage for GNH is the high rating for job insecurity.</p> <p>A supplementary subgroup analysis showed that the degree of negative evaluation of psychosocial factors concerning demands was related to the amount of working hours per week and the number of on-call duties.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Compared to employees in general hospital care and the COPSOQ overall mean value across all professions, geriatric care employees and especially home care workers evaluate their psychosocial working situation more positive for most aspects. However, this seems partly due to the very high proportion of part-time workers. Critical results for the two study groups are the relatively high job insecurity in nursing homes and the lack of social relations for the HCrs.</p

Psychosocial problems in traumatized refugee families: overview of risks and some recommendations for support services

Abstract This article is an abridged version of a report by an advisory council to the German government on the psychosocial problems facing refugee families from war zones who have settled in Germany. It omits the detailed information contained in the report about matters that are specific to the German health system and asylum laws, and includes just those insights and strategies that may be applicable to assisting refugees in other host countries as well. The focus is on understanding the developmental risks faced by refugee children when they or family members are suffering from trauma-related psychological disorders, and on identifying measures that can be taken to address these risks. The following recommendations are made: recognizing the high level of psychosocial problems present in these families, providing family–friendly living accommodations, teaching positive parenting skills, initiating culture-sensitive interventions, establishing training programs to support those who work with refugees, expanding the availability of trained interpreters, facilitating access to education and health care, and identifying intervention requirements through screening and other measures

Motherhood and mental well-being in Germany: Linking a longitudinal life course design and the gender perspective on motherhood

Giesselmann M, Hagen M, Schunck R. Motherhood and mental well-being in Germany: Linking a longitudinal life course design and the gender perspective on motherhood. ADVANCES IN LIFE COURSE RESEARCH. 2018;37:31-41.Based on considerations of societal mothering ideologies, qualitative gender studies suggest detrimental effects of motherhood on women's mental well-being. However, numerous quantitative life course analyses find no such effect. This dissonance may originate in the measurement of well-being usually employed in longitudinal quantitative designs, which does not capture the dimensions of well-being identified as relevant in gender studies (i.e., stress, anxiety, depression, and social detraction). Using an indicator of well-being based on the Short Form 12 health questionnaire (SF-12), whose items correspond closely to these dimensions, this study integrates the gender perspective on maternal well-being in a longitudinal life course design. Using data on 1855 mothers and a control group of 6283 childless women from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP), longitudinal analyses reveal a significant and steady decrease in average maternal mental well-being after first childbirth. When contrasted with the development in a matched control group of childless women, a smaller, but still statistically significant decline is predicted. Thus, our results are consistent with arguments of a detrimental effect of motherhood