School of International and Public Affairs, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
School of Social and Public Administration, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, China.
J Gerontol Soc Work. 2023 Jul;66(5):642-661. doi: 10.1080/01634372.2022.2140373. Epub 2022 Oct 30.
The psychological state of geriatric social workers affects the intention to leave and thus the quality of services provided to older adults. This study explored the relationship between the work environment, work attitudes, and turnover intentions of geriatric social workers. This study obtained an analytic sample comprising 999 geriatric social workers from the 2019 Longitudinal Study of Social Work in China. Multivariate regression techniques combined with a mediation analysis was performed to explore the relationships. The study results provided preliminary evidence on the complex associations between and among work environment, work attitudes, and turnover intentions of geriatric social workers in China. We demonstrated that perceived organizational support reduced the turnover intentions of geriatric social workers through increased collective psychological ownership and reduced burnout. Regular inter- and intra-agency communication between social workers and their supervisors and colleagues have important roles in reducing turnover by enhancing support and emotional commitment to organizations. Policy decision-makers are suggested to clearly define the roles and responsibilities of geriatric social works to release their administrative burdens, which may help to reduce their burnout level and improve the stability of the geriatric social work force.
老年社会工作者的心理状态会影响离职意向，进而影响为老年人提供的服务质量。本研究探讨了老年社会工作者的工作环境、工作态度和离职意向之间的关系。本研究通过 2019 年中国社会工作纵向研究获得了一个由 999 名老年社会工作者组成的分析样本。采用多元回归技术结合中介分析来探讨这些关系。研究结果初步证明了中国老年社会工作者的工作环境、工作态度和离职意向之间存在复杂的关联。我们表明，感知到的组织支持通过增强集体心理所有权和减少职业倦怠，降低了老年社会工作者的离职意向。社会工作者与其主管和同事之间定期的机构间和机构内沟通，通过增强对组织的支持和情感承诺，在减少离职方面发挥了重要作用。建议政策制定者明确界定老年社会工作者的角色和责任，以减轻他们的行政负担，这可能有助于降低他们的职业倦怠水平，并提高老年社会工作队伍的稳定性。
