30
April
2020
|
10:20
Europe/Amsterdam

HEALTHY WORK IN ELDERLY CARE: NEW STUDY LAUNCHED

IUBH AND VER.DI CONDUCT RESEARCH ON OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH MANAGEMENT IN GERIATRIC CARE

Erfurt, 30 April 2020 - The offer of occupational health management is booming - and leads to the assumption that companies are gradually developing into a kind of health resource. However, little or nothing is known about how it is actually implemented, especially in sectors in Germany that are particularly hard on health. For this reason, the IUBH International University of Applied Sciences under the direction of Prof. Dr. Stefanie André and Prof. Dr. Verena Renneberg together with ver.di have started the research project "BGM-Branchenkompass", which wants to investigate, among other things, which health-promoting measures are offered in care companies and which quality standards must be developed in the future for company health management in care. The first results are expected by the middle of next year.

 

The new study is to provide insights into the socially relevant care sector

André, Professor of Health Management, on the research project: "With this research project, we are dedicating ourselves to a task for society as a whole and fulfilling our responsibility to provide realistic and actual insights into the structural as well as individual health structures in highly stressed occupational sectors that are so important for us."

Sylvia Bühler, member of the ver.di national executive board and responsible for health and social affairs as well as education and science: "ver.di has been committed for years to upgrading and relieving the burden on health and care workers. It must stop workers who look after sick people and those in need of care around the clock, every day of the year, become ill because of working conditions and poor staffing. Knowing that you cannot give the people in need of care what they need and what constitutes good care because of time constraints is highly stressful. The joint research project can provide important insights to drive much needed improvements."

 

The study focuses on the employee side

The core of the cross-sectional study BGM-Branchenkompass will be annual repeat surveys in small, medium-sized and large companies from sectors with a high health burden. In the first two years of the study, 2020/21, the focus will be on inpatient and outpatient care for the elderly. The findings for Germany can be systematically compared with other countries, but also with other occupational sectors. What is new for a survey of this kind is that the web-based survey is combined with classic survey instruments and focuses on the employee side. Thus, a holistic and also representative picture of the results can emerge. Preparing this for sustainable, evidence-based health communication is one of the central tasks of the interdisciplinary research project. The team is supported by committed IUBH students who are involved in the research work as well as in the development of the BGM industry compass website.