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A Descriptive Study on Immigrant Workers in the Elderly Care Sector

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Abstract

The present descriptive study seeks to explore the differences in terms of psychosocial work characteristics and health & well-being indicators among Danes, Western and Non-western immigrants working in the elderly care sector; and to identify differences in the association patterns between these psychosocial work characteristics and health & well-being across these three groups. The study was based on a large-scale survey of the elderly care sector in Denmark with 78% response rate. Results show that Non-western immigrants had more depression symptoms, poorer quality of sleep and more client-related burnout than their Western immigrants and Danish colleagues. All in all, the associations between psychosocial work characteristics and health and well-being were much stronger among Danes than among immigrant workers and particularly weak among Non-western immigrants.

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Notes

  1. For further information see: ‘Arbejdsmiljøforhold for SOSU-uddannede indvandrere i Danmark’, by Hanne Giver et al. (report published in Danish) or contact Hanne Giver at hgi@ncrwe.dk.

  2. Health-care helpers deliver personal or practical help to clients’ daily needs. Formal education for this group takes around a year and two moths, after which there is an option to continue further education for another year and eight months to become health care assistants. Health-care assistants carry out caring activity and tasks, which could include coordination and educational functions and arranging basic health and nursing tasks.

  3. Physiotherapists treat physical injuries or dysfunction with exercises and other physical treatments of a physical disorder or injuries.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Lersø Parkallé 105, Copenhagen, 2100, Denmark

    Adriana Ortega, Isabella Gomes Carneiro & Mari-Ann Flyvholm

Authors
  1. Adriana Ortega
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  2. Isabella Gomes Carneiro
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  3. Mari-Ann Flyvholm
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Correspondence to Adriana Ortega.

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Ortega, A., Carneiro, I.G. & Flyvholm, MA. A Descriptive Study on Immigrant Workers in the Elderly Care Sector. J Immigrant Minority Health 12, 699–706 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-009-9257-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-009-9257-4

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