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Elliott, Kate Ellen J., Quinn, Michael G., Stirling, Christine M., Sanderson, Kristy 
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3132-2745, Robinson, Andrew L., Martin, Angela J. and Scott, Jennifer L.
(2023)
Developing the occupational communion scale: Belonging-based social connections are vital for work engagement, self-efficacy, and positive affect in aged care workforces.
The Gerontologist, 63 (6).
1028–1038.
ISSN 0016-9013
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Abstract
Background and Objectives: A multifaceted construct called occupational communion (OC), defined as a sense of belonging based on social interaction at work, has been proposed to understand why care workers were positively engaged in their jobs over time, even though they were very demanding. Rich qualitative data on the multiple aspects of OC in care work exist, but a valid measure does not. Research Design and Methods: We applied a mixed-method systematic scale development process to measure OC. Aged and dementia care workers in Australia (76%) and other countries participated in a focus group and online surveys (N = 2,451). We also used interview data from our prior study. The study involved 3 components: (1) scale development and design; (2) pilot test validation with exploratory factor analysis; and (3) confirmatory validation via confirmatory factor analysis. The third component assessed convergent and discriminant validity using measures of communion, self-efficacy, work engagement, job and life satisfaction, intention to leave, positive and negative affect, and mood. Results: We developed a 28-item Occupational Communion Scale (OCS) with good internal consistency (composite reliability = 0.75–0.91) across 6 factors: (1) “natural” carer, (2) psychological need to care, (3) connection with clients, (4) connection with coworkers, (5) desire for more connection, and (6) blurred boundaries. All validity measures correlated with OC and work engagement, self-efficacy, and positive affect showed the strongest association. Discussion and Implications: The OCS can be used to design and evaluate interventions addressing aged care workforce engagement, social connections and well-being, and care outcomes.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Additional Information: | Data Availability Statement: Data are not stored in a public repository as participants did not provide their informed consent to share their deidentified data. This study was not preregistered. Funding information: Funding was from National Health and Medical Research Council, and Australian Research Council (E0023237), University of Tasmania Research Enhancement Grant Scheme (E0021909), an Early Career Seeding Grant from University of Tasmania, Wicking Dementia Research and Education Centre, and a PhD scholarship jointly provided by TIME for Dementia (Tasmania and Victoria Dementia Training Study Centre, Australia), the Wicking Dementia Research and Education Centre and the University of Tasmania, Australia (045135, awarded to J. L. Scott and A. L. Robinson; K.-E. J. Elliott stipend). |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | caregiving—formal,measurement,psychometrics,well-being,workforce issues,medicine(all) ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/2700 |
| Faculty \ School: | Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > School of Health Sciences |
| UEA Research Groups: | Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Centres > Norwich Institute for Healthy Aging Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Centres > Lifespan Health Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Health Promotion |
| Related URLs: | |
| Depositing User: | LivePure Connector |
| Date Deposited: | 07 Nov 2024 09:30 |
| Last Modified: | 13 Nov 2024 17:30 |
| URI: | https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/97551 |
| DOI: | 10.1093/geront/gnac190 |
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