Psychological work capacity demands, according to Mini-ICF-APP-WS, on different health professionals - A naturalistic observation study.

PURPOSES: Capacity-oriented workplace-description is on the one hand, the basis for occupational health action, e.g. for reintegration and work adjustment. On the other hand, it is also necessary for preventive action, e.g. mental hazard analysis or job-matching. When self-ratings are used for a work description, that description must not be confused by an affective judgment about the workplace, e.g. work-satisfaction. Health professionals are especially prone for high workload and potentially a very broad spectrum of work-duties. Studying health professionals is valuable for gaining empirical insights into how these employees, in a similar environment but with different tasks, perceive their work-capacity-demands. Subjective work-perception is an important predictor of work ability.

METHODS

The work capacity demands of 122 health professionals were studied, by comparing administrative staff, physicians, psychologists and co-therapists (ergotherapists, sport therapists, social workers, nurses). They all reported their work demands according to the Mini-ICF-APP-WS work demands rating.

RESULTS

Different professional groups reported different psychological work-capacity-demands to different degrees. Correlations between the work-capacity-demands and the work condition were low to moderate, indicating discriminant validity. Also, work capacity demands are independent from work ability, which is another validity aspect.

CONCLUSION

The work capacity demands rating was able to differentiate between capacity demands in different professional fields, even if the workplace context was the same (employees from similar work environments). The work capacity demands rating can be a useful short rating for mental hazard analysis in health care professions. It gives a differentiated description of workplace demands, which is the basis for creating person-job-fit, by targeted work adjustment, capacity training, or combined interventions.