The burden of care: Health and well-being of geriatric nursing assistants

OBJECTIVE: Increasing life expectancy has led to a growing demand for people working in geriatric care, who face difficult working conditions that may have a negative impact on their health. This study aims to describe the health and health-related behaviour of geriatric nursing assistants.

METHOD: Cross-sectional descriptive study. We recruited 508 participants geriatric nursing assistants in Spain in 2022. We used a self-administered questionnaire on socio-demographic characteristics, health behaviour and health status.

RESULTS: The sample consisted mostly of women (94.5 %), and 59.1 % were below average in physical health and 76.4 % in mental health. Low back pain (87.6 %) was the most common musculoskeletal problems. Work-related difficulties due to pain were reported by 40.8 % for low back pain and 36.4 % for neck pain. Persistent pain was present in 43.7 % of participants with low back pain and 40.9 % with neck pain.

CONCLUSIONS: People working as geriatric nursing assistants in Spain face a high burden of health problems. Urgent policy interventions are needed to reduce health inequalities and promote better health outcomes.