Factors Affecting Willingness of Direct Care Workers to Engage in Elderly Care

Chien-Chih Liu^1, and Shuang-Shii Chuang¹

¹Department of Business Administration, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan (R.O.C.)

Cite this paper:
Chien-Chih Liu and Shuang-Shii Chuang. Factors Affecting Willingness of Direct Care Workers to Engage in Elderly Care. Journal of Business and Management Sciences. 2021; 9(2):63-67. doi: 10.12691/jbms-9-2-1

Abstract

Direct care workers are the main workforce in long-term care in Taiwan. However, few direct care workers desire to enter or stay in this field. This study aims to explore the factors influencing direct care workers’ elderly care willingness. A cross-sectional design was used in the present study. Stratified random sampling was utilized to select samples from a southern city in Taiwan. Overall, 207 participants completed the questionnaire, including providing demographic data and answering all questions on the Older People Scale and the Willingness Toward Elderly Care Scale. An independent sample t-test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), Pearson’s correlation coefficient, and multiple regression analyses were used to examine the associations among the study variables. Direct care workers’ elderly care willingness was significantly influenced by junior high school (β = .023, p = .047), hourly wage (β = .148, p = .037), and appearance and physical attitude toward older adults (β = .302, p = .002). These factors explained 15.4% of elderly care willingness. In conclusion, it is critical to cultivate positive attitudes toward older adults and nurture the appropriate understanding of aging to avoid stereotypes and enhance the willingness of direct care workers to care for older adults. Furthermore, providing a more flexible schedule and additional opportunities to receive better compensation will increase the care willingness of direct care workers. It is suggested that the on-the-job training about caring for older people that aims to develop positive attitudes toward older adults and awareness of age stereotypes are required. These findings provide critical information for the retention and recruitment of the workforce to care for older adults.

Keywords:
direct care workers attitudes toward older adults elderly care willingness

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

References:

[1]	World Health Organization. (2018). Ageing and life-course. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/ageing/ageism/en/.
[2]	Wang, Y. T. and Yang, W. S, “Changes and trends in family structure in Taiwan, 1999 to 2010”, Journal of Family Issue, 1-16. July 2019.
[3]	Iecovich, E, “Live-in care workers in sheltered housing for older adults in Israel: The new sheltered housing law”, Journal of Aging & Social Policy, 28, 277-291. June 2016.
[4]	Scales, K, “It is time to resolve the direct care workforce crisis in long-term Care”, The gerontologist, 1-8. August 2020.
[5]	Shinan-Altman, S., Soskolne, V. and Ayalon, L, “Becoming a home care worker: Job-seekers’ push and pull factors”, Research on Aging, 1-10. November 2019.
[6]	Ayalon, L., Dolberg, P., Mikulioniene, S., Perek Białas, J., Rapolien ˙e, G., Stypinska, J., Willi´nska, M., and de la ˙Fuente-Núñez, V, “A systematic review of existing ageism scales”, Ageing Research Review, 54. September 2019.
[7]	Rathnayake S, Athukorala Y. and Siop S, “Attitudes toward and willingness to work with older people among undergraduate nursing students in a public university in Sri Lanka: a cross sectional study”, Nurse Education Today, 36, 439-44. January 2016.
[8]	Liu, Y. E., Norman, I. J., and While, A. E, “Nurses’ attitudes towards older people and working with older patients: An explanatory model. Journal of Nursing Management, 23(8), 965-973. November 2015.
[9]	Ministry of Health and Welfare, R.O.C. (Taiwan). Long Term Care Policy 2.0 (2017-2026). Taipei: Executive Yuan, R.O.C. (Taiwan), 2016.
[10]	Morgan, J. C., Dill, J. and Kalleberg, A. L, “The quality of healthcare jobs: Can intrinsic rewards compensate for low extrinsic rewards?” Work, Employment & Society, 27(5), 802-822. July 2013.
[11]	Lu, L. and Kao, S.F, “Attitudes towards old people in Taiwan: scale development and preliminary evidence of reliability and validity”, Journal of Education and Psychology, 32(1), 147-171. March 2009.
[12]	Lee, J., Yu, H., Cho, H. H., Kim, M.W. and Yang, S, “Ageism between Medical and Preliminary Medical Persons in Korea”, Annals of Geriatric Medicine and Research, 24(1). March 2020.
[13]	Gebremariam, K.M. and Sadana, R, “On the ethics of healthy ageing: Setting impermissible trade-offs relating to the health and well-being of older adults on the path to universal health coverage”, International Journal for Equity in Health, 18(1), 1-16. September 2019.
[14]	Liou, C. L, “A comparative study of undergraduates' attitudes toward aging in Taiwan and the United States through student drawings”, International Journal of Aging & Human Development, 85(3), 265-288. September 2017.
[15]	Kim, Y. and Jang, I, “The factors associated with care willingness towards older adults among nursing students”, Journal of the Korean Data Analysis Society, 19(3), 1669-1683. June 2017.
[16]	Weale, V., Wells, Y. and Oakman, J, “Flexible working arrangements in residential aged care: Applying a person-environment fit model”, Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 55, 356-374. February 2017.
[17]	Kim, Y. and Kim, C, “Impact of job characteristics on turnover intention and the mediating effects of job satisfaction: experiences of home visiting geriatric care workers in Korea”, Asia Pacific Journal of Social Work and Development, 27(2), 53-68. May 2017.
[18]	Won, J. and Jang, H, “Factors influencing elderly care willingness of nursing students”, Psychology and Education Journal, 58(2), 2701-2712. December 2020.
[19]	Liu, F. C. (2001). A study of nursing home basic experience as an influence on vocational nursing students’ attitudes and willingness toward the elderly care (Master’s thesis). Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
[20]	Lee, C.Y., Hsu, H.C., Chou, Y. L., and Chen, Y. J, “Elderly care willingness and attitudes”, Journal of nursing and healthcare research, 8(4), 297-304. December 2012.
[21]	Chi, M. J., Shyu, M. L., Wang, S. Y., Chuang, H.C., and Chuang, Y. H, “Nursing students' willingness to care for older adults in Taiwan”, Journal Nursing Scholarship, 48(2), 172-178. March 2016.