Abstract

Background: Research on employee satisfaction and rehabilitation care practice models in elderly care is scarce, and no previous studies exist regarding the effects of implementation of Kinaesthetics on psychosocial factors at work.

Aim: This study aimed to describe job satisfaction among employees in elderly care after implementation of Kinaesthetics as a patient mobility support model in rehabilitation care. The target organisation was a joint collaboration area of four municipalities in Finland.

Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional design was used. The data were part of a larger occupational wellbeing survey, the Hospital Personnel Study. Psychosocial factors at work, including job characteristics, team climate and organisational justice, among elderly care staff were examined in 2012 (N=336), 2014 (N=326) and 2017 (N=370). At the end of 2012, a development project was implemented and during 2013 all employees of geriatric wards underwent basic training in Kinaesthetics. The geriatric ward employees were compared with employees in home care and nursing home in the same organisation.

Results: In general, job satisfaction was rather good in all units, and the differences between the units were minor regardless of statistical significance. The change was different between the units only regarding relational justice. Between the baseline and the first follow-up measurement, relational justice improved in all work units, and improvement was more pronounced in geriatric wards where Kinaesthetics was implemented than in other elderly care units. Innovation increased among geriatric ward staff, but not statistically significantly.

Conclusion: The study indicated that the implementation of Kinaesthetics seems to effect relational justice positively in elderly care. The implementation of Kinaesthetics possibly gave managers an opportunity to maintain a presence in everyday work. During the study, a nation-wide health and social services reform was being prepared and a larger scale effect of the intervention may have been overridden by other changes in the organisation.