What Determines Step-Rate at Work? An Investigation of Factors at the Shift, Worker, Ward, and Nursing Home Levels in Eldercare

OBJECTIVES: Current knowledge on the determinants of step-rate at different organizational levels is limited. Thus, our aim was to identify, in eldercare, at what workplace level differences in step-rate occur and to identify determinants of workers’ step-rate at these levels. METHODS: Participants were 420 eldercare workers from 17 nursing homes (126 wards) in Denmark. Accelerometry was used to assess step-rate (steps per hour) of workers over multiple shifts. We assessed various determinants at different levels of the workplace, i.e. at the (i) shift, (ii) worker, (iii) ward, and (iv) nursing home levels. Variance components analysis identified the percentage contribution to total variance in step-rate from each respective level. Multi-level linear regression modelling was used to investigate the association between candidate determinants at each level and step-rate. RESULTS: Differences in eldercare workers’ step-rate occurred primarily between shifts (within workers; 44.9%) and between workers (within wards; 49.1%). A higher step-rate was associated with: (i) weekend and evening shifts (versus weekday/day); (ii) job as a care helper (versus care aide) and an increased proportion of time spent on direct care tasks; (iii) working in a somatic ward (versus dementia), an increased resident–staff ratio and permission to take unscheduled breaks; and (iv) lack of elevators. CONCLUSIONS: We found that nearly all variability in step-rate in eldercare work occurs between shifts (within workers) and between workers (within wards). The main determinants of step-rate were related to the type of shift, type of work tasks, staffing ratio, break policy, and availability of elevators.