Relations of Working Caregiver Work–family Conflicts to Assessment of Care Manager Support for Continued Employment and to Working Caregiver Characteristics

Abstract

Aim: This study was conducted to clarify relations of work -family conflicts of working caregivers to assessment of care manager support for continued employment and to the working caregiver characteristics.Method: Study participants were 3,000 working caregivers nationwide who administer home care services, and their 3,000 care managers. An anonymous self-administered survey conducted by mail elicited data from 696 respondents (23.2% valid response rate). Survey questions for working caregivers included inquiries related to their sociodemographic characteristics and workfamily conflicts as measured by the Work-Family Conflict Scales Japanese version. Regarding care managers, their sociodemographic characteristics and judgment of support for the caregiver to continue working were obtained.Results: The mean age of these working caregivers, 79.3% of whom were women, was 57.2 years ± 8.8 years. Logistic regression analysis results indicated that working caregivers who were having psychological care needs assessed by their care managers tended to report worse living, longer working hours, worse subjective health, and a higher degree of conflict in working interference family issues (WIF).Conclusions: Results indicated that working caregivers have psychological care needs and employment-related conflicts associated with fulfillment of their domestic roles.