Work-Related Quality of Life and Well-Being of Social Care Workers in the Disability Sector in Ireland

Abstract

Background: Scant attention has been paid to the quality of working life of social care workers in Ireland. This study sought to characterise both the quality of working life and the well-being of social care workers in the disability sector. Method: A cross-sectional survey of social care workers (n = 307) was conducted. Measures of work-related quality of life, well-being, organisational constraints, workload and turnover intention were included in the survey. Results: Experiencing higher organisational constraints, longer work hours and higher workload were related to lower quality of working life, F(9,242) = 24.953, p < 0.001. Higher organisational constraints and higher workload also negatively influenced well-being, F(9,240) = 11.494, p < 0.001. Linear regression indicated that higher turnover intention was influenced by lower quality of working life, F(1, 279) = 306.319, p < 0.001. Conclusions: The results indicate the importance of the influence of work-related factors on both quality of working life and well-being in social care workers in disability services in Ireland.