Same job, same working conditions? A cross-sectional study to examine the similarities and differences of the working situation in ambulatory and residential youth welfare workers.
IF 2.9 4区 医学Q2 PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH
Maren Kersten, Sylvie Vincent-Höper, Tanja Wirth, Sabine Gregersen, Albert Nienhaus
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Employees in social work exhibit high rates of sick leave due to mental health issues. Additionally, work-related demands in youth welfare have increased in recent years. Particularly in light of the escalating shortage of skilled professionals in this field, this trend becomes especially critical. The aim of this study is to systematically examine health-relevant working conditions, coping strategies, and health indicators in youth welfare. A special focus is placed on a differentiated analysis of job-related characteristics in the context of outpatient and residential youth welfare.
Methods: Mean values, standard deviations and the reliability of scales are measured. In addition to descriptive statistics, t-tests for analyzing mean differences, as well as correlation analyses and odds ratios as measures of association, are computed.
Results: A total of N = 1044 employees in youth welfare participated in the online survey. Among them, 671 individuals belonged to the field of residential youth welfare, and 373 to outpatient youth welfare. The results indicate that, in youth welfare in general, a variety of emotional, social, qualitative, and quantitative demands exhibit high levels. The comparison between outpatient and residential youth welfare reveals differences in half of the demands. The significant differences are observed for social demands and aggression from clients, which are statistically significant higher in the residential setting. Regarding resources, the most significant difference is observed for autonomy, which is higher in the outpatient setting. Overall, the association patterns reveals more similarities than differences between outpatient and residential settings. In both settings working conditions seem to have deteriorated during the pandemic.
Conclusions: In conclusion, the identified job-related characteristics in outpatient and residential youth welfare exhibit more similarities than differences. Nevertheless, the identified differences provide insights into the specific features of each work context, offering valuable starting points for targeted health promotion in practice.
Trial registration: This trial is recorded at the Hamburg University Ethics Committee (AZ 2022_027).
背景：从事社会工作的员工因心理健康问题而请病假的比例很高。此外，近年来与青少年福利相关的工作要求也在增加。特别是鉴于该领域熟练专业人员的短缺日益加剧，这一趋势变得尤为严峻。本研究旨在系统地考察与健康相关的工作条件、应对策略以及青少年福利领域的健康指标。研究重点是对门诊和住院青少年福利机构中与工作相关的特征进行差异化分析：方法：测量平均值、标准差和量表的可靠性。除描述性统计外，还计算了用于分析均值差异的 t 检验以及相关性分析和衡量关联性的几率比：共有 N = 1044 名青少年福利机构员工参与了在线调查。其中，671 人属于住院青少年福利领域，373 人属于门诊青少年福利领域。结果表明，总体而言，在青少年福利领域，各种情感、社会、质量和数量方面的要求都很高。对门诊和住院青少年福利进行比较后发现，有一半的需求存在差异。在社交需求和来自服务对象的攻击方面存在明显差异，在统计意义上，住院环境下的社交需求和攻击需求更高。在资源方面，差异最大的是自主性，门诊环境下的自主性更高。总体而言，门诊和住院环境之间的关联模式显示出更多的相似性而非差异性。在大流行期间，这两种环境下的工作条件似乎都有所恶化：总之，门诊和住院青少年福利机构中已确定的工作相关特征表现出的相似性多于差异性。尽管如此，所发现的差异还是让我们了解了每种工作环境的具体特点，为在实践中有针对性地促进健康提供了有价值的出发点：本试验已在汉堡大学伦理委员会备案（AZ 2022_027）。
期刊介绍：
Aimed at clinicians and researchers, the Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology is a multi-disciplinary, open access journal which publishes original research on the clinical and scientific aspects of occupational and environmental health.
With high-quality peer review and quick decision times, we welcome submissions on the diagnosis, prevention, management, and scientific analysis of occupational diseases, injuries, and disability. The journal also covers the promotion of health of workers, their families, and communities, and ranges from rehabilitation to tropical medicine and public health aspects.
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