Author(s): Fonte, Carla ; Barros, Carla ; Baylina, Pilar ; Alves, Sónia ; Moreira, Paulo ; BAYLINA MACHADO, PILAR
Date: 2022
Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.22/31433
Origin: Repositório Científico do Instituto Politécnico do Porto
Subject(s): Work life balance; Workers health; Psychosocial risk factors; Healthcare professionals; Occupational health
Work life balance, a significant issue in the healthcare sector, recognizes that individuals are engaged in several tasks in their private and professional lives. Literature highlights the harmful consequences of conflicts between personal and professional life for organizations and workers. This study investigates the prevalence of work life balance problems and presence of psychosocial work factors and analyzes their impact on health complaints in the Portuguese healthcare sector. A cross-sectional study of 640 healthcare professionals was conducted using two data collection instruments: INSAT (Inquérito Saúde e Trabalho), a health and work survey to assess psychosocial work factors, and the Portuguese version of the Nottingham Health Profile that evaluates the subjective physical, emotional, and social aspects of health. The data show that healthcare professionals have a very high prevalence of work life balance problems and are exposed to several psychosocial risk factors including high demands and work intensity, working hours, emotional demands, and work characteristics. These experiences are related to professionals’ health revealing a state of emotional vulnerability. Thus, Portuguese health organizations should formulate appropriate workplace policy to reduce work life conflict and enable employees to be more effective in their work and other roles.
