Maria Nordin

Poor working conditions and high employee turnover in eldercare have frequently been addressed over the years. The aim of the study is to examine the relation between work overcommitment and employee well-being and turnover intentions in eldercare and whether leader support and role clarity moderate the relation between overcommitment and employee outcomes. A questionnaire was distributed to workplaces in eight Swedish municipalities. The results show that overcommitment was related to employees’ impaired well-being, as well as to their turnover intentions. We also found that leader support buffered the negative effects of overcommitment. The role clarity was quite high; however, it did not have a moderating effect.

The aim of this study was to investigate how self-rated health (SRH) reflects ongoing ill-health and how SRH is associated with previous ill-health and/or predicts future ill-health such as burnout, disturbed sleep, and somatic symptoms. The study used two waves from the population-based Västerbotten Environmental and Health Study in which 2 336 adult persons participated by answering a questionnaire at two time points three years apart. Hierarchical and logistic regression analyses were conducted, thus treating all variables both continuously (degree) and categorically (case). The analyses were performed both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. The results showed bidirectionality between suboptimal SRH and burnout, disturbed sleep and somatic severity caseness. Moreover, degree of poor SRH was more likely to occur simultaneously to high degrees of burnout and somatic severity than to degree of poor sleep quality. Also, caseness of burnout, disturbed sleep and somatic severity increased the risk of simultaneous suboptimal SRH. Finally, the results showed that degree of burnout three years earlier, predicted degree of poor SRH, and that degree of poor SRH predicted degree of sleep three years later. In conclusion, in a population-based, normal adult sample there is a bidirectional relationship between suboptimal SRH and caseness of burnout, disturbed sleep quality and somatic symptoms, but not between degree of these symptoms. The results can have implications for health care meeting patients complaining about poor general health.

Our goal was to analyze the positive effect of job crafting activities involving nursing home employees on their perceived quality of care, and the moderating effect of organizational identification. A two-wave non-experimental design (with an interval of 12 months) was used. The Job Crafting Questionnaire, the Identification-Commitment Inventory, and the Quality of Care Questionnaire (QoC) were administered to 226 nursing home employees in two waves. The results of the hierarchical regression analyses found significant association between job crafting subdimensions and quality of care twelve months later. Organizational identification was shown to play a moderating role in these relationships when analyzing the effect of cognitive crafting. In this sense, the effect of cognitive crafting on quality of care is only found with high levels of identification. The findings highlight the importance of the job crafting dimensions (task, relational and cognitive) when it comes to enhancing quality of care in residential homes for the elderly. This is especially relevant for cognitive crafting among employees with high levels of organizational identification. This research provides managers with guidance when allocating job crafting opportunities aimed at making improvements in quality of care. In this respect, organizations must offer job crafting training to stimulate and support their employees and, on the other hand, managers should encourage employees to craft their jobs, gearing their needs, abilities, and goals to corporate values and competencies.

Implementation of activity-based flex offices (AFOs) are becoming increasingly common. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of an AFO on perceived productivity, satisfaction, work environment and health. Questionnaire data from the longitudinal, quasi-experimental Active Office Design Study was used. The study evaluates a public organization relocating staff to either an AFO or to cell offices. Measures from baseline, 6 and 18 months after relocation, were analyzed. Employees in the AFO experienced a decreased productivity and satisfaction with the office design. Lack of privacy as well as increased noise disturbance, less satisfaction with sit comfort and work posture were reported. Employees in the AFO with work tasks requiring a high degree of concentration experienced lower productivity while those with a high proportion of teamwork rated productivity to be continually high. No significant group differences were found between the two office types in general health, cognitive stress, salutogenic health indicators or pain in the neck, shoulder or back. The study highlights the importance of taking work characteristics into account in the planning and implementation process of an AFO. Flexible and interactive tasks seem more appropriate in an AFO, whereas individual tasks demanding concentration seem less fit.

The purpose of this study was to characterize different ethnic groups in Kyrgyzstan regarding cardiovascular disease (CVD) and mental distress, and to investigate the association between CVD and mental distress. The mental distress was measured in terms of sleep disturbance, burnout, and stress.Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among six ethnic groups in Kyrgyzstan, aged 18 years and above. The sample was stratified for age, education, family status, and income. We used the Karolinska Sleep Questionnaire to assess sleep disturbance, the physical and emotional subscale of the Shirom Melamed Burnout Questionnaire to assess burnout, and the 10-item Perceived Stress Scale to assess perceived stress.Results: The distribution of CVD differed significantly between the six ethnic groups, with higher prevalence among East Europeans, and Western Asians and lower among Other minorities and Central Asians. In all ethnic groups in Kyrgyzstan, individuals with CVD had increased odds of sleep disturbance and burnout. There was a significant difference in burnout and stress between persons with and without CVD in Kyrgyz and East European ethnic groups.Conclusion: There was a significant difference in burnout and stress between persons with and without CVD in Kyrgyz and East European ethnic groups. In addition to CVD prevention, mitigating sleep disturbance and preventing burnout in the general population should be aimed at in public health measures.

Aim: To examine the association between organizational change, turnover intentions, overcommitment and perceptions of quality of care among nurses and nursing assistants employed in eldercare organizations.Design: A longitudinal survey (baseline, 12‐month follow‐up) was used.Methods: A panel sample of 226 eldercare employees in Spain and Sweden responded to survey questions concerning organizational change, turnover intentions, overcommitment and perceptions of quality of care. The data were analysed using structural equational modelling.Results: We found a statistically significant positive relationship between organizational change, employees’ turnover intention and overcommitment. We also found a statistically significant negative relationship between organizational change and perceived quality of care.

It is important to understand how people with exhaustion disorder (ED) perceive interventions aiming to facilitate cognitive functioning. Therefore, the overall aim of this study was to explore experiences from persons with ED after participating in a 12‐week intervention of either computerized cognitive training or aerobic training. Both interventions were performed in addition to a multimodal rehabilitation programme. Thirteen participants, 11 women and 2 men, were interviewed about pros and cons with participating in the training. The interviews were analysed with Qualitative Content Analysis. The analyses resulted in the theme hopeful struggling for health and the categories support, motivation and sensations. It was hard work recovering from ED. Support from others who are in the same situation, family members, and technology and routines for the training were strongly emphasized as beneficial for recovery. Timing, i.e., matching activities to the rehabilitation programme, getting feedback and perceiving joy in the training were important for motivation. Participants in both interventions experienced positive sensations with improved memory performance, everyday life functioning and increased faith in the prospect of recovery. However, it is important to consider various aspects of support and motivation in both computerized cognitive training and aerobic training to enable participants to pursue their participation.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze the moderation effect of over-commitment in the job crafting–well-being relationship, in the elderly care sector in Spain. Design/methodology/approach: A cross-sectional design was implemented and a final sample of 353 participants were assessed using the Job Crafting Questionnaire, an adaptation of the Over-commitment Scale from the Effort-Reward Imbalance Questionnaire, and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). Findings: A positive interaction between relational and task crafting and over-commitment is observed in the prediction of well-being levels. Specifically, the effect of over-commitment in the task crafting–well-being relationship proved to be statistically significant when opposed to low, medium and high levels of over-commitment. Additionally, the effect of over-commitment in the relational crafting–well-being relationship proved to be statistically significant only when opposed to medium and high levels of over-commitment. Finally, a direct and simple effect was observed between cognitive crafting and well-being, not moderated by over-commitment. Research limitations/implications: Implementation of non-behavioral measurements, and a non-longitudinal design are suggested. The development of behavioral measures for job crafting is encouraged, along with the implementation of longitudinal designs sensitive to changes in over-commitment. Possible over-commitment results are biased by an economically contracted environment. Practical implications: Job crafting training, over-commitment early detection and further research on job crafting strategies’ preferences are suggested. Originality/value: The moderating role of over-commitment in the job crafting–well-being relationship in the elderly care sector represents one of these attempts to better understand evidences of how work-related efforts modify a worker’s psychological functioning and adaptation, which is the reason why, specially in contexts of uncertainty, its study becomes relevant.