Employees’ eldercare demands, strain, and perceived support
Abstract
Purpose
In many countries, both the number of older people in need of care and the number of employed caregivers of elderly relatives will increase over the next decades. The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which perceived organizational, supervisor, and coworker support for eldercare reduce employed caregivers’ strain and weaken the relationship between eldercare demands and strain.
Design/methodology/approach
Survey data were collected from 100 employed caregivers from one organization.
Findings
Results showed that eldercare demands were positively related to strain, and perceived organizational eldercare support (POES) was negatively related to strain. In addition, high POES weakened the relationship between eldercare demands and strain.
Research limitations/implications
The cross-sectional design and use of self-report scales constitute limitations of the study.
Practical implications
POES is a resource for employed caregivers, especially when their eldercare demands are high.
Originality/value
This research highlights the relative importance of different forms of perceived support for reducing employed caregivers’ strain and weakening the relationship between eldercare demands and strain.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Stefanie Schulze-Johann and Claire Greaves for helping with data collection for this study.
Citation
Zacher, H. and Schulz, H. (2015), "Employees’ eldercare demands, strain, and perceived support", Journal of Managerial Psychology, Vol. 30 No. 2, pp. 183-198. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMP-06-2013-0157
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited