The Problems of the Working Conditions, Environment and Health of the Older Health Care Workers in Turkey

Abstract

As the percentage of the aged population is rapidly increasing worldwide, it is inevitable that this will also be reflected in employment within the health care sector. In this study, the problems of the working conditions, environment and health of the older health care workers who were working in a training and research hospital were analyzed. The study is a cross-sectional and analytic study. The population consisted of the older (above 55 years old) members of staff working in a training and research hospital in Turkey. Of the 908 employees working at the hospital, 40 of them (4.4%) were found to be 55 years old or older. The older staff mentioned problems such as complaints about the hospital's physical conditions (82.9%), 17.1% expressed dissatisfaction about the people they had to work with, 20% stated they felt ostracized while working, 11.4% did not like the work they did, 65.7% felt they had to work, and 60.0% indicated economic concerns. Of the participants, 17.1% worked shifts, 37.1% worked at night, and 20.0% had experienced at least one or more work-related accident. Among the older workers, 65.7% had sight problems, 62.9% wore dentures, 45.7% had hypertension, 45.7% felt fatigue, 31.4% had skin problems. 37.1% of the workers indicated that their health deteriorated due to the negative working conditions and 42.9% had to seek care at least 4 times a year. Females were more likely to work shifts than males (p = 0.01). 55-59 years older workers were more likely to indicate economic concerns than 60 and above years older workers (p = 0.03). 55-59 years older workers were more likely to state they felt fatigue than 60 and above years older workers (p = 0.01). There was a statistically significant difference in the number of problems related with working environment and conditions scores between females and males (p = 0.03). Older health care workers experience many negative situations and health problems due to problems in the working conditions and environment. Improvements should be made to better the overall health of aging health care workers.