Age & Generations: Understanding Experiences at the Workplace

Examines differences in employees' perceptions of the quality of their jobs by generation, career stage, whether they have dependent care responsibilities, and length of tenure. Discusses elements of employment quality, including flexible work options

The Job Demands-Control-Support Model: Understanding the Implications of Age

Thesis advisor: Rebekah Levine ColeyIn recent decades, the average age of the United States workforce has been on the rise, a trend that is expected to continue as the Baby Boomer generation, which constitutes the largest segment in the workforce in this country, reaches older adulthood. The aging of the workforce has raised concerns from researchers, policy-makers, and organizations. As a result, there have been calls for research regarding how experiences at work vary across the life-span, although few studies have addressed this topic. To begin to address this gap in the literature, this dissertation aims to explore the association between job demands and well-being and how the processes employees use to cope with job demands vary with age. Using data from two waves of Midlife in the United States: A National Study of Health and Well-Being, with a sample of over 7,000 working adults ranging from ages 20 to 83, I attempt to integrate the Job Demands-Control-Support Model with the Life-Span Theory of Control in order to examine how multiple factors influence the relationship between job demands and well-being outcomes across the life-span. Results of random effects linear regression models show that job demands were negatively related to job satisfaction and mental health and that the relationship between job demands and job satisfaction was weakest at younger ages and remained constant after midlife. With regard to the factors that moderate the relationships with job demands, findings indicated that job control and job support buffered the relationship with job satisfaction, while job support buffered the relationship with mental health. The buffering roles of job control and job support were found to vary based on levels of primary and secondary control for workers of different ages. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for both workplace theory and developmental theories, which help to provide a better understanding of how work experiences vary across the life-span.Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2013.Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education.Discipline: Counseling, Developmental, and Educational Psychology

Manage at Work: A Randomized, Controlled Trial of a Self-Management Group Intervention to Overcome Workplace Challenges Associated with Chronic Physical Health Conditions

Background: The percentage of older and chronically ill workers is increasing rapidly in the US and in many other countries, but few interventions are available to help employees overcome the workplace challenges of chronic pain and other physical health conditions. While most workers are eligible for job accommodation and disability compensation benefits, other workplace strategies might improve individual-level coping and problem solving to prevent work disability. In this study, we hypothesize that an employer-sponsored group intervention program employing self-management principles may improve worker engagement and reduce functional limitation associated with chronic disorders. Methods: In a randomized controlled trial (RCT), workers participating in an employer-sponsored self-management group intervention will be compared with a no-treatment (wait list) control condition. Volunteer employees (n = 300) will be recruited from five participating employers and randomly assigned to intervention or control. Participants in the intervention arm will attend facilitated group workshop sessions at work (10 hours total) to explore methods for improving comfort, adjusting work habits, communicating needs effectively, applying systematic problem solving, and dealing with negative thoughts and emotions about work. Work engagement and work limitation are the principal outcomes. Secondary outcomes include fatigue, job satisfaction, self-efficacy, turnover intention, sickness absence, and health care utilization. Measurements will be taken at baseline, 6-, and 12-month follow-up. A process evaluation will be performed alongside the randomized trial. Discussion: This study will be most relevant for organizations and occupational settings where some degree of job flexibility, leeway, and decision-making autonomy can be afforded to affected workers. The study design will provide initial assessment of a novel workplace approach and to understand factors affecting its feasibility and effectiveness

Sustaining work participation across the life course

Introduction Many disability prevention strategies are focused on acute injuries and brief illness episodes, but there will be growing challenges for employers to manage circumstances of recurrent, chronic, or fluctuating symptoms in an aging workforce. The goal of this article is to summarize existing peer-review research in this area, compare this with employer discourse in the grey literature, and recommend future research priorities. Methods The authors participated in a year-long sponsored collaboration that ultimately led to an invited 3-day conference, “Improving Research of Employer Practices to Prevent Disability”, held October 14–16, 2015, in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, USA. The collaboration included a topical review of the scientific and industry literature, group discussion to identify key areas and challenges, drafting of initial documents, and feedback from peer researchers and a special panel of experts with employer experience. Results Cancer and mental illness were chosen as examples of chronic or recurring conditions that might challenge conventional workplace return-to-work practices. Workplace problems identified in the literature included fatigue, emotional exhaustion, poor supervisor and co-worker support, stigma, discrimination, and difficulties finding appropriate accommodations. Workplace intervention research is generally lacking, but there is preliminary support for improving workplace self-management strategies, collaborative problem-solving, and providing checklists and other tools for job accommodation, ideas echoed in the literature directed toward employers. Research might be improved by following workers from an earlier stage of developing workplace concerns. Conclusions Future research of work disability should focus on earlier identification of at-risk workers with chronic conditions, the use of more innovative and flexible accommodation strategies matched to specific functional losses, stronger integration of the workplace into on-going rehabilitation efforts, and a better understanding of stigma and other social factors at work

Lag Times in Reporting Injuries, Receiving Medical Care, and Missing Work: Associations With the Length of Work Disability in Occupational Back Injuries

Objective: The aim of this study is to examine the associations between lag times following occupational low back injury and the length of work disability. Methods: In a retrospective cohort study using workers’ compensation claims, random effects Tobit models were used to explore how disability length relates to three lag times: the number of days from the date of injury to reporting the injury, the number of days from the date of injury to medical care, and the number of days from the date of injury to initiating work disability. Results: In general, shorter lag times for each of the different lags were related to shorter lengths of disability. Conclusions: Decreasing the length of the lag times in reporting injuries, receiving medical care, and missing work may help to decrease the length of work disability for workers after low back injury

Lag Times in Reporting Injuries, Receiving Medical Care, and Missing Work: Associations With the Length of Work Disability in Occupational Back Injuries

Objective: The aim of this study is to examine the associations between lag times following occupational low back injury and the length of work disability. Methods: In a retrospective cohort study using workers’ compensation claims, random effects Tobit models were used to explore how disability length relates to three lag times: the number of days from the date of injury to reporting the injury, the number of days from the date of injury to medical care, and the number of days from the date of injury to initiating work disability. Results: In general, shorter lag times for each of the different lags were related to shorter lengths of disability. Conclusions: Decreasing the length of the lag times in reporting injuries, receiving medical care, and missing work may help to decrease the length of work disability for workers after low back injury

Comparing the relationship between age and length of disability across common chronic conditions

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to compare the association between age and disability length across common chronic conditions. METHODS: Analysis of 39,915 nonwork-related disability claims with a diagnosis of arthritis, diabetes, hypertension, coronary artery disease, depression, low back pain, chronic pulmonary disease, or cancer. Ordinary least squares regression models examined age-length of disability association across chronic conditions. RESULTS: Arthritis (76.6 days), depression (63.2 days), and cancer (64.9 days) were associated with longest mean disability lengths; hypertension was related to shortest disability lengths (41.5 days). Across chronic conditions, older age was significantly associated with longer work disability. The age–length of disability association was most significant for chronic pulmonary disease and cancer. The relationship between age and length of work disability was linear among most chronic conditions. CONCLUSIONS: Work disability prevention strategies should consider both employee age and chronic condition diagnosis