Manager support for work-family issues and its impact on employee-reported pain in the extended care setting.
OBJECTIVE
Supervisor-level policies and the presence of a manager engaged in an employee's need to achieve work-family balance, or "supervisory support," may benefit employee health, including self-reported pain.


METHODS
We conducted a census of employees at four selected extended care facilities in the Boston metropolitan region (n = 368). Supervisory support was assessed through interviews with managers and pain was reported by employees.


RESULTS
Our multilevel logistic models indicate that employees with managers who report the lowest levels of support for work-family balance experience twice as much overall pain as employees with managers who report high levels of support.


CONCLUSIONS
Low supervisory support for work-family balance is associated with an increased prevalence of employee-reported pain in extended care facilities. We recommend that manager-level policies and practices receive additional attention as a potential risk factor for poor health in this setting.
Department of Society, Human Development and Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA. eodonnel@hsph.harvard.edu
Emily M
EM
O'Donnell
Lisa F
LF
Berkman
S V
SV
Subramanian
D000288:Administrative Personnel; D001900:Boston / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005195:Family Relations; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D010146:Pain / Q000453:epidemiology*; D010559:Personnel Management; D024382:Professional Role; D036301:Qualitative Research; D057566:Self Report; D014940:Work Schedule Tolerance