TITLE:
The Health of Paid Caregivers: A Cross-Sectional Study in Spanish Population
AUTHORS:
Isabel Cuéllar-Flores, Rosa M. Limiñana-Gras, M. Pilar Sánchez-López
KEYWORDS:
Paid Caregivers; Physical Health; Psychological Health; Psychological Stress; Physical Work; Job Satisfaction; Nursing
JOURNAL NAME:
Psychology,
Vol.4 No.6A,
June
24,
2013
ABSTRACT: In countries with a welfare system, such as Spain, paid caregiving is an important profession and investigating the health of people who care for the health of others is becoming an issue of increasing interest. This paper reports on a study assessing the health of people who care for the health of others. It investigates whether caregiving jobs carry with them a higher risk of psychological and physical health problems than other unrelated occupations, and it examines whether risk profiles differ by sex and educational level. A descriptive correlational approach and a cross-sectional design were used. The sample included 330 participants. Half of the participants worked as caregivers, and the other half worked in professions unrelated to caregiving services. The results indicate that paid caregivers have poorer health than their matched counterparts. The variable of caregiving explains this difference better than sex or educational level and professional category.