[Examination of the relationship between tasks in geriatric health service facilities and benefits of working for older assistant care workers].

Objective　In this study, we clarified the characteristics of tasks performed by older assistant care workers at geriatric health services facilities, by individual characteristics and work status. Additionally, we examined the relationship between the tasks and benefits of working for older assistant care workers.Methods　A self-administered questionnaire survey was provided to 2,571 elderly care facilities employing assistant care workers aged ≥60.　A total of 1,606 responses were obtained, and personal characteristics, working conditions, tasks, and benefits of working for older care assistants were surveyed. Thirteen work tasks were established and categorized into four broad categories; user transfer assistance, facility maintenance, meal-related assistance, and managing and talking to users. Seven benefits of working as care assistants were "contribution to society," "social connection," "purpose of life," "income," "learning from caregiving," "health maintenance and promotion," and "time utilization."Results　Most of the respondents were women and relatively young workers. Among tasks, men, younger workers, and those working >5 days weekly represented a high proportion of those performing user transfer assistance tasks. Tasks on managing and talking to users were not correlated with sex, age, and number of days worked, but those with more flexible work patterns were more likely to be engaged in such tasks. Logistic regression analysis showed that user transfer assistance was correlated with benefits of working, such as "contribution to society," "social connection," and "learning from caregiving." Moreover, facility maintenance was associated with "income," "health maintenance and promotion," and "time utilization" and meal-related assistance was associated with "learning from caregiving." Managing and talking to users was associated with "contribution of society," "social connection," "purpose of life," and "learning from caregiving."Conclusion　The tasks of the workers were associated with individual characteristics and work status. The perception of benefits between the working tasks that involved frequent contact with users and those that did not were considerably different.

[Association between the change in the job facilitating and inhibiting factors of care staff due to the employment of older assistant workers and the emotional exhaustion among care staff].

Objectives　The mental health condition of care staff in Japan is becoming problematic. Older assistant workers are currently being employed to assist care staff with their jobs and alleviate their job burden. This employment of older assistant workers is drawing attention; however, their influence on the job facilitating and inhibiting factors of care staff and the association with the care staff's emotional exhaustion remains unclear. In this study, we aim to examine how the employment of older care assistant workers relates to the job-facilitating and job-inhibiting factors of care staff and explore that association with the care staff's emotional exhaustion.Methods　Data from a mail survey of geriatric health services facilities with older assistant workers were analyzed. Among the answers obtained from the care staff, answers from 5,185 who reported working in facilities that employ older assistant workers (over the age of 60) were analyzed. The Emotional Exhaustion subscale of the Japanese Version of the Burnout Questionnaire was used as the dependent variable. The change in job-facilitating and job-inhibiting factors of care staff due to the employment of older assistant workers (improve, maintain/exacerbate) was explored for nine contents.Results　Care staff reported a decrease in the total volume of the task (63.6%), less stress during daily tasks (39.8%), and more concentration on the tasks that require expert care knowledge (38.0%). The results of multiple regression analysis showed that the emotional exhaustion score of care staff was low when the total volume of tasks decreased (ß=－0.383, 95%CI=－0.719, －0.047), when less stress was perceived during daily tasks (ß=－0.432, 95%CI=－0.796, －0.068), when concentration on tasks that required expert care knowledge increased (ß=－0.574, 95%CI=－0.937, －0.210), and when human relationships among staff improved (ß=－0.871, 95%CI=－1.263, －0.480). Conversely, an increase in tasks requiring work with regional personnel and organizations (ß=0.800, 95%CI=0.162, 1.437) was associated with a high emotional exhaustion score.Conclusion　The employment of older care workers was related to the job-facilitating or job-inhibiting factors of care staff, and the change in these factors was associated with lower emotional exhaustion. The employment of older personnel may lower the risk of burnout among care staff.

Effects of fear of COVID-19 on older volunteers' willingness to continue their activities: REPRINTS cohort study.

AIM: This study examined the effects of fear of COVID-19 on older volunteers' willingness to continue activities that required face-to-face interactions. METHODS: From September to November 2020, a self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted with 481 older adult volunteers. A total of 423 responses were collected; 343 had no missing items and were included in the analysis. Analysis items included willingness to continue volunteer activities, fear of COVID-19, mental and physical health, and a group of items related to factors influencing the continuation of volunteer activities. RESULTS: The structural analysis of covariance indicated that volunteer orientation, which included items considered to be factors for continuing volunteer activities, had a significant positive influence on the willingness to continue activities. Fear of COVID-19 had a significant negative effect on the latent variable mental and physical health, which consisted of a subjective sense of health, but fear of COVID-19 and physical and mental health had no significant effect on the willingness to continue volunteering. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that the willingness of older adults to continue volunteer activities during the COVID-19 pandemic is influenced by their volunteer orientation and is not affected by their fear of COVID-19. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2024; 24: 370-376.

[Current conditions and challenges of employing older assistant care workers based on geriatric health services facilities' scale].

Objectives　To support care workers, some care facilities employ older individuals as care assistants for peripheral, non-professional tasks. However, the size of the facilities influences their employment needs and support systems for older care workers. Therefore, this study examined the rationale for employing older assistant care workers; the challenges they face; educational systems; and the efforts to facilitate continued employment based on facility size.Methods　Initially, a fax survey was conducted with 3,591 facilities associated with the National Association of Geriatric Health Services Facilities to determine the proportion of older assistant care workers employed. Thereafter, a questionnaire survey was administered to gather more information. Out of 3,591 facilities, 2,170 responded to the survey, and 1,261 responded to the questionnaire. In this study, care assistants aged ≥60 years were classified as older care assistants. The facilities were categorized based on admission capacity into two groups: "small/medium facilities" (≤99 residents) and "large facilities" (≥100 residents). A chi-square test was conducted for data analysis.Results　Of the all geriatric health services facilities, 31.7% employed older assistant care workers. Moreover, the questionnaire survey responses showed they are employed by 687 facilities. Further analysis revealed that larger facilities employed a higher number of older care assistants than small/medium facilities. Small/medium facilities tended to have fewer training systems for older care assistants than larger facilities (30.0% for small/medium facilities vs. 21.6% for large facilities; P=0.014). Furthermore, the work of older care assistants in small/medium facilities was more susceptible to family circumstances than those in larger facilities (15.7% for small/medium facilities vs. 10.2% for large facilities; P=0.033). Compared to small/medium facilities, larger facilities were more likely to state that their employment objective was to reduce the risk of care accidents (19.8% for small/medium facilities vs. 26.3% for large facilities; P=0.046) and provide psychological support, such as periodic interviews, to older care workers to ensure continued employment (24.1% for small/medium facilities vs. for large facilities 37.3%; P<0.001).Conclusion　Larger facilities employeda higher number of older care assistants than small/medium facilities. Furthermore, small/medium facilities were less likely to provide psychological support and had a less structured training system, compared to larger facilities. Additionally, the work of older care assistants in small/medium facilities was more susceptible to family circumstances and other factors, which could affect their work performance. Thus, developing adequate support systems in small/medium facilities is crucial to promoting the employment of older care assistants.

[Relationship between the perceived benefits of working and emotional exhaustion among older assistant care workers: A cross-sectional study].

Objectives　This study is intended to clarify the perceived benefits of working among older assistant care workers employed in geriatric health service facilities and examine the relationship between perceived benefits and emotional exhaustion.Methods　We analyzed data from a mail survey of older assistant care workers employed in geriatric health service facilities that the Japan Association of Geriatric Health Services Facilities conducted in 2020. In this survey, those aged ≥60 were defined as older assistant care workers. Responses were obtained from 1,606 older assistant care workers at 599 facilities. The dependent variable was the emotional exhaustion subscale of the Japanese version of the Burnout Questionnaire. The independent variables were the seven benefits of working as an assistant care worker: 1) I can contribute to society; 2) I am connected to society; 3) I have a sense of purpose in life; 4) I am earning the income I expected since I started working as an assistant care worker; 5) I am learning about care; 6) It has maintained and improved my health; and 7) I can use my time effectively. Latent class analysis (LCA) was performed using these seven benefits as independent variables. Multiple regression analysis was performed using emotional exhaustion and the perceived benefits as dependent and independent variables, respectively. The missing values were supplemented by the multiple imputation method.Results　Overall, 1,601 responses were analyzed after excluding 5 respondents who did not answer all the questions. Four patterns were identified from the LCA results: the "benefit-full type," who perceived all benefits; the "benefit-less type," who perceived few benefits; the "benefit-extroverted type," who perceived social contribution and connection as benefits; and the "benefit-introverted type," who perceived health maintenance and improvement and time utilization as benefits. The multiple regression analysis showed that emotional exhaustion scores were higher for the "benefit-extroverted" and "benefit-less" types than for the "benefit-full" type (b=2.465, P<.001 and b=1.931, P<.001, respectively). No difference was found in the case of the "benefit-introverted" type (b=0.050, P=.851).Conclusion　The perceptions of diverse and introverted benefits were associated with lower emotional exhaustion scores among older assistant care workers. Future intervention studies are needed to examine whether obtaining diverse or introverted benefits can decrease the emotional exhaustion score.

Associations between frailty status, work-related accidents and efforts for safe work among older workers in Tokyo: A cross-sectional study.

AIM: Working in old age not only solves the labor shortage in Japan, but also benefits the health of the older workers; however, work-related accidents are a major concern. Functional impairment is an important factor in such accidents. The first aim was to examine the association between frailty status and work-related accidents, and the second aim was to identify those who utilize the opportunity to learn about safe work. METHODS: The participants were 7265 members of the Silver Human Resource Center in Tokyo, engaged in non-regular and indeterminate paid work. The frailty status (robust, pre-frail and frail) was assessed using the frailty screening index. We obtained data on self-reported work-related accidents that occurred in the past year, and the experience of participation in workshops and reading brochures for safe work. Modified Poisson regression analysis was carried out to calculate the prevalence ratio. RESULTS: The prevalence of robust, pre-frailty and frailty were 26.3%, 63.3% and 10.4%, respectively. The percentage of participants who reported work-related accidents was 9.4%. Relative to robust participants, pre-frail and frail participants showed 1.57-fold (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.28-1.93) and 2.31-fold (95% CI 1.79-2.98) higher prevalence ratios of work-related accidents, respectively. The prevalence ratio in pre-frail and frail participants were 1.08 (95% CI 1.04-1.11) and 1.14 (95% CI 1.09-1.20), respectively, for non-participation in workshops, and 1.17 (95% CI 1.06-1.29) and 1.39 (95% CI 1.20-1.61), respectively, for not reading brochures. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest the importance of support for older workers with functional impairment, as well as those without to continue to work safely. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2023; 23: 234-238.

[Characteristics of older people who have an intention to work as assistance personnel for long-term care or childcare].

Objectives　With the rapid progress of aging society and decreasing population, there is a shortage of workers in various areas, which has become a serious problem especially in the welfare field, for long-term care and childcare. As one of the countermeasures, some efforts are being made to hire people who are living independent daily lives, as auxiliary personnel, and have them take charge of non-specialized peripheral work of the facilities. The purpose of this study was to examine the characteristics of older adults who have an intention to work as auxiliary personnel in the welfare field.Methods　A self-response questionnaire survey was conducted from October to November 2019 for 374 members of "REPRINTS" who are picture-book reading volunteers, aged 60 years or more, and are living in the capital area. There were 295 valid responses. We performed logistic regression analysis using the presence or absence of intention to work for long-term care assistance and for childcare assistance as the dependent variables. The missing values were supplemented by the multiple imputation method (10 files were created).Results　The results of analysis revealed that 24.9% of the respondents had an intention to work for long-term care assistance, and 36.6% for childcare assistance. From the results of logistic regression analysis, it was found that among those intending to work in long-term care assistance, participants involved in lifelong learning activities had significantly higher intention to work (OR: 2.98, 95%CI: 1.40-6.34). Among those intending to work in childcare assistance, those with a high subjective sense of health had a significantly higher intention to work (OR: 2.41, 95%CI: 1.01-5.76).Conclusion　The intention of work for childcare assistance was higher than that for long-term care assistance. A notable characteristic of older people willing to work as assistants in the welfare field is that those who participate in lifelong learning activities would be willing to actively work for long-term care assistance, and those with high subjective health would be willing to actively work for childcare assistance. By focusing on the older people with these characteristics, we may be able to contribute to identifying the those among them who want to work as assistant personnel.

Older assistant workers in intermediate care facilities, and their influence on the physical and mental burden of elderly care staff.

BACKGROUND: As there is a shortage of care staff in elderly care homes, seniors are expected to work as assistants to help the care staff. This study examined the influence of older assistant workers in intermediate elderly care facilities on care staff, specifically focusing on emotional exhaustion which is a sign of burnout. These facilities provide long-term nursing and supportive care to older residents. METHODS: Data from a mail survey of intermediate elderly care facilities with older assistant workers were analyzed. Care staff were asked about the advantages and disadvantages of introducing older assistant workers in elderly care work, and their degree of emotional exhaustion. We also assessed work self-evaluations of older assistant workers, including the benefits of the work, and physical and mental burdens. RESULTS: A significantly large number of care staff reported improvements in workload with the employment of older assistant workers. Intermediate elderly care facilities enrolling more older assistant workers showed lower mean emotional exhaustion among care staff, independent of possible covariates. While older assistant workers felt that their work contributed to helping both care users and staff, they also reported a mental burden. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that older assistant workers can play a significant role in reducing the physical and mental burden of intermediate elderly care facility staff. Thus, employing older assistant workers can be an effective approach to addressing shortages of care staff in elderly care homes.