Workplace Supports for Parents Who Are Caregivers of Children with Asthma

Working parents of children with asthma face constant stressful decisions on how to balance the expectations of their jobs and the demands of caring for their children (work/caregiving conflict). Should a mother stay at home or go to work the next day when her child has had an asthma attack during the night? If she goes to work who will stay with her child? If she stays home she further depletes sick or vacation days and must deal with the repercussions of being perceived as unreliable due to frequent unscheduled absences. The stress caused by the conflict can undermine both parents' health and well-being and the quality of care they provide. The purpose of the NICHD funded R21 Workplace Supports for Parents who are Caregivers of Children with Asthma Project was to explore an approach that empowered single parents of children with asthma to secure the help they needed from the workplace to more effectively manage their work and caregiving roles. Based on the model of caregiving and stress proposed by Pearlin, Mullan, Semple, and Skaff (1990), the study tested the hypotheses that formal support that helps parents to fulfill work expectations while meeting caregiving demands will positively affect perceived well-being and job satisfaction. Study participants: Ninety-eight single, low income parents of children between the ages of 2 and 12 who were covered by SEIU Local 1199 benefit plan (the Fund) and worked in a hospital were recruited and assigned to one of three groups: existing services through the Fund, a brochure with information about workplace support, and telephone consultation that provided information and assistance with securing workplace support. The hospitals where parents worked were randomly selected from those where employees were covered by the Fund. All parents recruited from the same hospital were assigned to the same group to avoid possible contamination. Data Collection: Study participants were interviewed in-depth at enrollment and following the 9 month intervention period. Detailed notes from telephone consultations created a qualitative record of the experience of balancing caregiving and work demands. Analysis: The model was tested using GEE, an approach that accounts for correlation among the repeated measures. Missing data were handled through multiple imputation. A grounded theory approach was applied to qualitative data. Findings: In support of the model, findings show that the more time invested in meeting caregiving demands, the more that caregiving interfered with work and the lower parent quality of life. Job satisfaction was significantly lower for those whose work interfered with caregiving. A positive impact of telephone consultation on reducing conflict and enhancing quality of life approached significance; however, results may have been affected by challenges to maintaining contact with parents over the study period, reducing the sample size from 98 to 78 at follow-up. Qualitative analyses, however, illustrated how the telephone consultation helped parents utilize benefits and resources at the workplace, such as FMLA, to better manage conflicts between work and caregiving and that parents valued the emotional support and problem solving that consultation offered.