scholarly journals Does Exposure to High Job Demands, Low Decision Authority, or Workplace Violence Mediate the Association between Employment in the Health and Social Care Industry and Register-Based Sickness Absence? A Longitudinal Study of a Swedish Cohort

Author(s):  
Anna Nyberg ◽  
Paraskevi Peristera ◽  
Susanna Toivanen ◽  
Gun Johansson

Background: The aim of this paper was to investigate if job demands, decision authority, and workplace violence mediate the association between employment in the health and social care industry and register-based sickness absence. Methods: Participants from the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health who responded to questionnaires in 2006–2016 (n = 3951) were included. Multilevel autoregressive cross-lagged mediation models were fitted to the data. Employment in the health and social care industry at one time point was used as the predictor variable and register-based sickness absence >14 days as the outcome variable. Self-reported levels of job demands, decision authority, and exposure to workplace violence from the first time point were used as mediating variables. Results: The direct path between employment in the health and social care industry and sickness absence >14 days was, while adjusting for the reverse path, 0.032, p = 0.002. The indirect effect mediated by low decision authority was 0.002, p = 0.006 and the one mediated by exposure to workplace violence was 0.008, p = 0.002. High job demands were not found to mediate the association. Conclusion: Workplace violence and low decision authority may, to a small extent, mediate the association between employment in the health and social care industry and sickness absence.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johanna Stengård ◽  
Paraskevi Peristera ◽  
Gun Johansson ◽  
Anna Nyberg

Abstract Background: The prevalence of sickness absence is particularly high among employees in health and social care, where psychosocial work stressors are pertinent. Managerial leadership is known to affect sickness absence rates, but the role leadership plays in relation to sickness absence is not fully understood; that is, whether poor leadership i) is associated with sickness absence directly, ii) is associated with sickness absence indirectly through the establishment of poor psychosocial working conditions, or iii) whether good leadership rather has a buffering role in the association between work stressors and sickness absence.Methods: Four biennial waves from the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health (SLOSH, 2010–2016, N=2333) were used. Autoregressive cross-lagged analyses within a multilevel structural equation modelling (MSEM) framework were conducted to test hypotheses i)–iii), targeting managerial leadership, register-based sickness absence and psychosocial work stressors (high psychological demands, poor decision authority and exposure to workplace violence).Results: A direct association was found between poor leadership and sickness absence two years later, but no associations were found between leadership and the psychosocial work stressors. Finally, only in cases of poor leadership was there a statistically significant association between workplace violence and sickness absence.Conclusions: Poor managerial leadership may increase the risk of sickness absence among health and social care workers in two ways: first, directly and, second, by increasing the link between workplace violence and sickness absence.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Johanna Stengård ◽  
Paraskevi Peristera ◽  
Gun Johansson ◽  
Anna Nyberg

Abstract Background The prevalence of sickness absence is particularly high among employees in health and social care, where psychosocial work stressors are pertinent. Managerial leadership is known to affect sickness absence rates, but the role leadership plays in relation to sickness absence is not fully understood; that is, whether poor leadership (i) is associated with sickness absence directly, (ii) is associated with sickness absence indirectly through the establishment of poor psychosocial working conditions, or (iii) whether good leadership rather has a buffering role in the association between work stressors and sickness absence. Methods Four biennial waves from the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health (SLOSH, 2010–2016, N=2333) were used. Autoregressive cross-lagged analyses within a multilevel structural equation modelling (MSEM) framework were conducted to test hypotheses i)–iii), targeting managerial leadership, register-based sickness absence and psychosocial work stressors (high psychological demands, poor decision authority and exposure to workplace violence). Results A direct association was found between poor leadership and sickness absence two years later, but no associations were found between leadership and the psychosocial work stressors. Finally, only in cases of poor leadership was there a statistically significant association between workplace violence and sickness absence. Conclusions Poor managerial leadership may increase the risk of sickness absence among health and social care workers in two ways: first, directly and, second, by increasing the link between workplace violence and sickness absence.


Author(s):  
Carmen Köhler ◽  
Johannes Hartig ◽  
Alexander Naumann

AbstractThe article focuses on estimating effects in nonrandomized studies with two outcome measurement occasions and one predictor variable. Given such a design, the analysis approach can be to include the measurement at the previous time point as a predictor in the regression model (ANCOVA), or to predict the change-score of the outcome variable (CHANGE). Researchers demonstrated that both approaches can result in different conclusions regarding the reported effect. Current recommendations on when to apply which approach are, in part, contradictory. In addition, they lack direct reference to the educational and instructional research contexts, since they do not consider latent variable models in which variables are measured without measurement error. This contribution assists researchers in making decisions regarding their analysis model. Using an underlying hypothetical data-generating model, we identify for which kind of data-generating scenario (i.e., under which assumptions) the defined true effect equals the estimated regression coefficients of the ANCOVA and the CHANGE approach. We give empirical examples from instructional research and discuss which approach is more appropriate, respectively.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordan Taylor ◽  
Paula Gleeson ◽  
Tania Teague ◽  
Michelle DiGiacomo

The role of unpaid and informal care is a crucial part of the health and social care system in Australia and internationally. As carers in Australia have received statutory recognition, concerted efforts to foster engagement in carer participation in work and education has followed. However, little is known about the strategies and policies that higher education institutions have implemented to support the inclusion of carers. This study has three components: first, it employs a review of evidence for interventions to support to support carers; second, it reviews existing higher education institutions’ policies to gauge the extent of inclusive support made available to student carers, and; third it conducts interviews with staff from five higher education institutions with concerted carer policies in Australia were held to discuss their institutions’ policies, and experiences as practitioners of carer inclusion and support. Results indicate difficulty in identifying carers to offer support services, the relatively recent measures taken to accommodate carers in higher education, extending similar measures which are in place for students with a disability, and difficulties accommodating flexibility in rigid institutional settings. A synthesis of these findings were used to produce a framework of strategies, policies and procedures of inclusion to support carers in higher education.


2020 ◽  
Vol 70 (suppl 1) ◽  
pp. bjgp20X711569
Author(s):  
Jessica Wyatt Muscat

BackgroundCommunity multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) represent a model of integrated care comprising health, social care, and the voluntary sector where members work collaboratively to coordinate care for those patients most at risk.AimThe evaluation will answer the question, ‘What are the enablers and what are the restrictors to the embedding of the case study MDT into the routine practice of the health and social care teams involved in the project?’MethodThe MDT was evaluated using a mixed-method approach with normalisation process theory as a methodological tool. Both quantitative and qualitative data were gathered through a questionnaire consisting of the NoMAD survey followed by free-form questions.ResultsThe concepts of the MDT were generally clear, and participants could see the potential benefits of the programme, though this was found to be lower in GPs. Certain professionals, particularly mental health and nursing professionals, found it difficult to integrate the MDT into normal working patterns because of a lack of resources. Participants also felt there was a lack of training for MDT working. A lack of awareness of evidence supporting the programme was shown particularly within management, GP, and nursing roles.ConclusionSpecific recommendations have been made in order to improve the MDT under evaluation. These include adjustments to IT systems and meeting documentation, continued education as to the purpose of the MDT, and the engagement of GPs to enable better buy-in. Recommendations were made to focus the agenda with specialist attendance when necessary, and to expand the MDT remit, particularly in mental health and geriatrics.


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