Comparison of job burnout and life satisfaction between native and foreign female direct care workers in disability institutions

BACKGROUND: There is little information about the burnout and wellbeing of institutional caregivers working for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities; information is particularly limited in the understanding of experiences of direct care workers. OBJECTIVE: The aims of the study were to provide a profile of self-perceived burnout and wellbeing of direct-care caregivers working in disability institutions, and to compare the difference between native- and foreign caregivers. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted. We recruited 46 female living assistants of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in two disability institutions in Taiwan. There were 23 subjects who were local residents and 23 subjects who were foreign providers of labor.Aself-administered questionnaire which included scale of the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI), the Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS), and the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) were employed in the survey. RESULTS: Findings revealed the local caregivers were slightly higher than foreign caregivers in personal burnout score (PBS) and work-related burnout score (WBS), although there were no significant differences. Those caregivers from foreign countries seem to be slightly happier and have higher life satisfaction than native caregivers. CONCLUSIONS: In order to decrease the burnout and improve wellbeing of caregivers of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, service providers should understand the experiences which caregivers encounter in theirworkplaces. Caregivers can benefit if they receive appropriate support to improve positive health while working for their service clients.