Work Stress and Health

Question 1

Work stress

Answer 1

• Defined as the adverse reaction people have to excessive pressures or other types of demands placed on them
• High levels of work stress is associated with:
  1) Sickness absence
  2) Cardiovascular health problems
  3) Mental health problems (e.g. depression, anxiety)
  4) Increase rate of injury and accident
  5) Increase rate of human error (serious consequences for healthcare staff)

Question 2

Demand-control-support model (DCS)

Answer 2

• Job strain is more likely to occur when a person is faced with:
  1) High demands
  2) Low control
  3) Low social support from colleagues/managers

Job control:

1) Decision authority – ability to decide when and how tasks are completed
2) Skill discretion – extent to which skills can be developed and used

Question 3

Strengths of DCS model

Answer 3

1) Provide quantitative data (via surveys) that can correlate with indicators of physical health and psychological wellbeing

Question 4

Limitations of DCS model

Answer 4

1) Typical epidermiological approach – stress-related personal injury is treated as a direct effect of objective work conditions
2) Assumes high demand, low control and low social support are inherently pathogenic
3) Social factors are treated as objective pathogens, which exercise effects on people regardless of their perceptions and beliefs
4) Primarily concerned with physiological stress which can be embodied (measured as physiological changes)
BUT it does not take into account cognition, perception and reflection/assessment