Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

LIVE: Thursday 27th June 2024, 18:00-19:30 (CEST)
Join our expert panel to discover why you need to understand the drivers of non-adherence in your patients, and how you can optimize medication adherence in your clinics to drastically improve patient outcomes.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
BMC Public Health
Published in: BMC Public Health 1/2014

Open Access 01-12-2014 | Research article

Fair relationships and policies to support family day care educators’ mental health: a qualitative study

Authors: Lara Corr, Elise Davis, Kay Cook, Elizabeth Waters, Anthony D LaMontagne

Published in: BMC Public Health | Issue 1/2014

Login to get access

Abstract

Background

High quality child care is a population health investment that relies on the capacity of providers. The mental health and wellbeing of child care educators is fundamental to care quality and turnover, yet sector views on the relationship between working conditions and mental health and wellbeing are scarce. This paper examines child care educators’ and sector key informants’ perspectives on how working in family day care influences educator’s mental health and wellbeing.

Methods

Semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with Australian family day care educators (n = 16) and key informants (n = 18) comprised of representatives from family day care schemes, government and other relevant organisations regarding the relationship between working conditions and educator mental health. Thematic analysis referenced the assumptions and concepts of critical inquiry and used social exchange theory.

Results

Educators and key informants reported that educators’ mental health was affected by the quality of their relationships with government, family day care schemes, and the parents and children using their services. These social relationships created and contributed to working conditions that were believed to promote or diminish educators’ mental health. High quality relationships featured fair exchanges of educator work for key resources of social support and respect; adequate income; professional services; and information. Crucially, how exchanges influenced educator wellbeing was largely contingent on government policies that reflect the values and inequities present in society.

Conclusions

Making policies and relationships between educators, government and family day care schemes fairer would contribute strongly to the protection and promotion of educator mental health and wellbeing, and in turn contribute to workforce stability and care quality.
Appendix
Available only for authorised users
Literature
1.
Hamre BK, Pianta RC: Self-reported depression in nonfamilial caregivers: prevalence and associations with caregiver behavior in child-care settings. Early Child Res Q. 2004, 19 (2): 297-10.1016/j.ecresq.2004.04.006.CrossRef
2.
Elfer P: Emotion in nursery work: work discussion as a model of critical professional reflection. Early Years. 2012, 32 (2): 129-141. 10.1080/09575146.2012.697877.CrossRef
3.
Jovanovic J: Retaining early childcare educators. Gend Work Organ. 2013, 20 (5): 528-544. 10.1111/j.1468-0432.2012.00602.x.CrossRef
4.
LaMontagne AD, Keegel T, Louie AM, Ostry A: Job stress as a preventable upstream determinant of common mental disorders: a review for practitioners and policy-makers. Adv Ment Health. 2010, 9 (1): 17-10.5172/jamh.9.1.17.CrossRef
5.
Butterworth P, Leach LS, Strazdins L, Olesen SC, Rodgers B, Broom DH: The psychosocial quality of work determines whether employment has benefits for mental health: results from a longitudinal national household panel survey. Occup Environ Med. 2011, 68 (11): 806-812. 10.1136/oem.2010.059030.CrossRefPubMed
6.
Mental Health Commission Canada: The Shain Reports on Psychological Safety in the Workplace – A Summary. 2010, Alberta: Mental Health Commission Canada, 5-
7.
Mcdaid D, Curran C, Knapp M: Promoting mental well-being in the workplace: a European policy perspective. Int Rev Psychiatry. 2005, 17 (5): 365-373. 10.1080/09540260500238397.CrossRefPubMed
8.
Department of Health: Making It Happen: A Guide to Delivering Mental Health Promotion. 2001, London, England: Department of Health, 220-
9.
Barry MM, Jenkins R: Implementing Mental Health Promotion. 2007, Edinburgh, Scotland: Elsevier
10.
Davis E, Freeman R, Doherty G, Karlsson M, Everiss L, Couch J, Foote L, Murray P, Modigliani K, Owen S, Griffin S, Friendly M, McDonald G, Bohanna I, Corr L, Smyth L, Morkeseth E, Morreaunet S, Ogi M, Fukukawa S, Hinke-Ruhnau J: An international perspective on family day care: comparing systems, challenges and opportunities. Austral J Early Child. 2012, 37 (4): 127-137.
11.
12.
13.
Weaver RH: Predictors of quality and commitment in family child care: provider education, personal resources, and support. Early Educ Develop. 2002, 13 (3): 265-10.1207/s15566935eed1303_2.CrossRef
14.
Stansfeld S, Candy B: Psychosocial work environment and mental health—a meta-analytic review. Scand J Work Environ Health. 2006, 32 (6, special issue): 443-462. 10.5271/sjweh.1050.CrossRefPubMed
15.
Nieuwenhuijsen K: Psychosocial work environment and stress-related disorders, a systematic review. Occup Med. 2010, 60 (4): 277-10.1093/occmed/kqq081.CrossRef
16.
LaMontagne AD, Martin A, Page KM, Reavley NJ, Noblet AJ, Milner AJ, Keegel T, Smith PM: Workplace mental health: developing an integrated intervention approach. BMC Psychiatry. 2014, 14 (131): 131-doi:10.1186/1471-244X-14-131CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
17.
Goldenhar LM, LaMontagne AD, Katz T, Heaney C, Landsbergis PA: The intervention research process in occupational safety and health: an overview from the National Occupational Research Agenda Intervention Effectiveness Team. J Occup Environ Med. 2001, 43: 616-622. 10.1097/00043764-200107000-00008.CrossRefPubMed
18.
Hawe P, Sheil A, Riley T, Gold L: Methods for exploring implementation variation and local context within a cluster randomised community intervention trial. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2004, 58 (9): 788-793. 10.1136/jech.2003.014415.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
19.
Mazzola JJ, Schonfeld IS, Spector PE: What qualitative research has taught us about occupational stress. Stress Health. 2011, 27 (2): 93-110. 10.1002/smi.1386.CrossRef
20.
Harkness AMB, Long BC, Bermbach N, Patterson K, Jordan S, Kahn H: Talking about work stress: discourse analysis and implications for stress interventions. Work Stress. 2005, 19 (2): 121-136. 10.1080/02678370500160068.CrossRef
21.
Kinman G, Jones F: Lay representations of workplace stress: what do people really mean when they say they are stressed?. Work Stress. 2005, 19 (2): 101-120. 10.1080/02678370500144831.CrossRef
22.
Kemmis S, McTaggart R: Participatory action research. Strategies of Qualitative Inquiry. Edited by: Denzin NK, Lincoln YS. 2003, Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications, 336-396.
23.
Page KM, LaMontagne AD, Louie AM, Ostry AS, Shaw A, Shoveller JA: Stakeholder perceptions of job stress in an industrialized country: implications for policy & practice. J Public Health Policy. 2013, 34: 447-461. 10.1057/jphp.2013.24.CrossRefPubMed
24.
Blaikie N: Designing Social Research. 2012, Cambridge, England: Polity Press, 2
25.
Crotty M: The Foundations of Social Research: Meaning and Perspective in the Research Process. 1998, Crows Nest, NSW: Allen and Unwin
26.
Strategies of Qualitative Inquiry. Edited by: Denzin NK, Lincoln YS. 2003, Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications, 2
27.
Homans GC: Social Behaviors: Its Elementary Forms. 1961, New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, Inc.
28.
Blau PM: Exchange and Power in Social Life. 1964, New Jersey, USA: Transaction Publishers, 2004, 8
29.
Walster E, Berscheid E, Walster GW: New directions in equity research. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1973, 25 (2): 151-176.CrossRef
30.
Cropanzano R, Mitchell MS: Social exchange theory: an interdisciplinary review. J Manag. 2005, 31 (6): 874-900.
31.
Zafirovski M: Some amendments to social exchange theory: a sociological perspective. Theor Sci. 2003, 4 (2):
32.
Siegrist J: Place, social exchange and health: proposed sociological framework. Soc Sci Med. 2000, 51 (9): 1283-1293. 10.1016/S0277-9536(00)00092-7.CrossRefPubMed
33.
Siegrist J: Adverse health effects of high-effort/low-reward conditions. J Occup Health Psychol. 1996, 1 (1): 27-41.CrossRefPubMed
34.
Moll S, Eakin JM, Franche R-L, Strike C: When health care workers experience mental ill health: institutional practices of silence. Qual Health Res. 2013, 23 (2): 67-79.CrossRef
35.
Andrews Y, Newman B: The value of childcare: class, gender and caring labour. Contemp Issues Early Child. 2012, 13 (3): 242-247. 10.2304/ciec.2012.13.3.242.CrossRef
36.
Corr L, Davis E, LaMontagne AD, Waters E, Steele E: Child care providers’ mental health: a systematic review of its prevalence, determinants and relationship to care quality. Int J Ment Health Promot. 2014, doi:10.1080/14623730.2014.931067
37.
McInnes E, Ward C, Knight D: Family day care providers’ occupational health and safety. J Health Saf Environ. 2010, 26 (5): 403-411.
38.
Slack-Smith LM, Read AW, Darby J, Stanley FJ: Health of caregivers in child care. Child Care Health Dev. 2006, 32 (1): 111-119. 10.1111/j.1365-2214.2006.00577.x.CrossRefPubMed
39.
Gratz RR, Claffey A: Adult health in child care: health status, behaviors, and concerns of teachers, directors, and family child care providers. Early Child Res Q. 1996, 11: 243-267. 10.1016/S0885-2006(96)90008-3.CrossRef
40.
Atkinson AM: Stress levels of family day care providers, mothers employed outside the home, and mothers at home. J Marriage Fam. 1992, 54 (2): 379-386. 10.2307/353069.CrossRef
41.
Butler JA, Modaff DP: When work is home: agency, structure, and contradictions. Manag Comm Q. 2008, 22 (2): 232-257. 10.1177/0893318908323151.CrossRef
42.
Baumgartner JJ, Carson RL, Apavaloaie L, Tsouloupas C: Uncovering common stressful factors and coping strategies among childcare providers. Child Youth Care Forum. 2009, 38: 239-251. 10.1007/s10566-009-9079-5.CrossRef
43.
Groeneveld MG, Vermeer HJ, van Ijzendoorn MH, Linting M: Stress, cortisol and well-being of caregivers and children in home-based child care: a case for differential susceptibility. Child Care Health Dev. 2012, 38 (2): 251-260. 10.1111/j.1365-2214.2010.01194.x.CrossRefPubMed
44.
Groeneveld MG, Vermeer HJ, van Ijzendoorn MH, Linting M: Children’s wellbeing and cortisol levels in home-based and center-based childcare. Early Child Res Q. 2010, 25 (4): 502-514. 10.1016/j.ecresq.2009.12.004.CrossRef
45.
Curbow B, McDonnell K, Spratt K, Griffin J, Agnew J: Development of the work-family interface scale. Early Child Res Q. 2003, 18 (3): 310-330. 10.1016/S0885-2006(03)00042-5.CrossRef
46.
Gerber EB, Whitebook M, Weinstein RS: At the heart of child care: predictors of teacher sensitivity in center-based child care. Early Child Res Q. 2007, 22 (3): 327-346. 10.1016/j.ecresq.2006.12.003.CrossRef
47.
Kaiser J, Rogers CS, Kasper A: Perceptions of well-being among child care teachers. Early Child Res Q. 1993, 87 (1): 15-28.
48.
Boyd M: "I love my work but…" the professionalization of early childhood education. Qual Rep. 2013, 18 (7): 1-20.
49.
Goelman H, Guo H: What we know and what we don’t know about burnout among early childhood care providers. Child Youth Care Forum. 1998, 27 (3): 175-199. 10.1007/BF02589564.CrossRef
50.
Kontos S, Riessen J: Predictors of job satisfaction, job stress, and job commitment in family day care. J Appl Develop Psychol. 1993, 14 (3): 427-441. 10.1016/0193-3973(93)90018-Q.CrossRef
51.
Davis E, Williamson L, Mackinnon A, Cook K, Waters E, Herrman H, Sims M, Mihalopoulos C, Harrison L, Marshall B: Building the capacity of family day care educators to promote children’s social and emotional wellbeing: an exploratory cluster randomised controlled trial. BMC Public Health. 2011, 11: 842-10.1186/1471-2458-11-842.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
52.
Guest G, Bunce A, Johnson L: How many interviews are enough?: An experiment with data saturation and variability. Field Methods. 2006, 18 (1): 59-82. 10.1177/1525822X05279903.CrossRef
53.
Quinn-Patton M: Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods. 2002, Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications, 3
54.
Broffenbrenner U: The Ecology of Human Development: Experiments in Nature and Design. 1979, USA: Harvard University Press
55.
56.
Vincent C, Braun A: Being ‘fun’ at work: emotional labour, class, gender and childcare. Br Educ Res J. 2013, 39 (4): 751-768.
57.
Fontana A, Frey JH: The interview: from neutral stance to political involvement. The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research. Edited by: Denzin NK, Lincoln YS. 2005, Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 695-727. 3
58.
Cook K: Stigma and the interview encounter. Handbook of Interview Research: The Complexity of the Craft. Edited by: Gubrium J, Holstein J, McKinney K, Marvasti A. 2012, Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, Inc, 333-344. 2CrossRef
59.
Blaikie N: Approaches to Social Enquiry. 2007, Cambridge, England: Polity Press, 2
60.
Green J, Willis K, Hughes E: Generating best evidence from qualitative research: the role of data analysis. Aust N Z J Public Health. 2007, 31: 545-550. 10.1111/j.1753-6405.2007.00141.x.CrossRefPubMed
61.
Agar M: How to ask for a study in qualitatisch. Qual Health Res. 1999, 9 (5): 684-697. 10.1177/104973299129122162.CrossRef
62.
Productivity Commission: Child Care and Early Learning, Draft Report. 2014, Canberra, Australia: The Commonwealth of Australia, 918-
63.
64.
Cox R: Making Family Child Care Work: Strategies for Improving the Working Conditions of Family Childcare Providers. 2005, Ontario, Canada: Research Directorate, Status of Women Canada
65.
McCallum R: McCallum’s Top Workplace Relations Cases: Labour Law and the Employment Relationship as Defined by Case Law. 2008, Sydney, N.S.W.: CCH Australia
66.
Council of Australian Governments: Investing in the Early Years—A National Early Childhood Development Strategy. 2009, Canberra, Australia: Commonwealth of Australia
67.
Curbow B, Spratt K, Ungaretti A, McDonnell K, Breckler S: Development of the child care worker job stress inventory. Early Child Res Q. 2000, 15 (4): 515-536. 10.1016/S0885-2006(01)00068-0.CrossRef
68.
Skeggs B: Formations of Class and Gender. 2012, Los Angeles, USA: Sage Publications
69.
Warren A: Relationships for me are the key for everything’: early childhood teachers’ subjectivities as relational professionals. Contemp Issues Early Child. 2014, 15 (3): 262-271. 10.2304/ciec.2014.15.3.262.CrossRef
70.
Michie S, Williams S: Reducing work related psychological ill health and sickness absence: a systematic literature review. Occup Environ Med. 2003, 60 (1): 3-9. 10.1136/oem.60.1.3.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
71.
Sumsion J: Early childhood teachers’ constructions of their resilience and thriving: a continuing investigation. Int J Early Years Educ. 2004, 12 (3): 275-290. 10.1080/0966976042000268735.CrossRef
72.
Tom A: Good work in Canadian childcare: complicating the love/money divide. Atlantis: Crit Stud Gend Cult Soc Justice. 2004, 29 (1): 33-41.
73.
Anderson N, Hughes KD: The business of caring: women’s self-employment and the marketization of care. Gend Work Organ. 2010, 17 (4): 381-405.
74.
Osgood J: Deconstructing professionalism in early childhood education: resisting the regulatory gaze. Contemp Issues Early Child. 2006, 7 (1): 5-14. 10.2304/ciec.2006.7.1.5.CrossRef
75.
Cook K, Davis E, Williamson L, Harrison L, Sims M: Discourses of professionalism in family day care. Contemp Issues Early Child. 2013, 14 (2): 112-126. 10.2304/ciec.2013.14.2.112.CrossRef
76.
Woodrow C: Discourses of professional identity in early childhood: movements in Australia. Eur Early Child Educ Res J. 2008, 16 (2): 269-280. 10.1080/13502930802141675.CrossRef
77.
Brennan D, Adamson E: Financing the future: an equitable and sustainable approach to early childhood education and care. SPRC Report 01/14. 2014, Sydney: Social Policy Research Centre, University of New South Wales
78.
Corr L, Davis E, Cook K, Mackinnon A, Sims M, Herrman H: Information seeking in family day care: access, quality and personal cost. Eur Early Child Educ Res J. 2014, 22 (5): doi:10.1080/1350293X.2014.969083
79.
Rutman D: Child care as women’s work: workers’ experiences of powerfulness and powerlessness. Gend Soc. 1996, 10 (5): 629-649. 10.1177/089124396010005008.CrossRef
80.
England P: Wages of virtue: the relative pay of care work. Soc Probl. 2002, 49 (4): 455-10.1525/sp.2002.49.4.455.CrossRef
81.
Clarke M, Lewchuk W, de Wolff A, King A: ‘This just isn’t sustainable’: precarious employment, stress and workers’ health. Int J Law Psychiatry. 2007, 30 (4–5): 311-326.CrossRefPubMed
82.
Landsbergis PA, Grzywacz JG, LaMontagne AD: Work organisation, job insecurity and occupational health disparities. Am J Ind Med. 2012, 57 (5): 1-21.
83.
84.
World Health Organization: Social Determinants of Health. The Solid Facts. Edited by: Wilkinson R, Marmot M. 2003, Geneva: World Health Organization, 33-2
85.
LaMontagne AD, Krnjacki L, Kavanagh A, Bentley R: Psychosocial working conditions in a representative sample of working Australians 2001–2008: an analysis of change in inequalities over time. Occup Environ Med. 2013, 70 (9): 639-647. 10.1136/oemed-2012-101171.CrossRefPubMed
86.
Cook KS, Rice ERW: Exchange and power: issues of structure and agency. Handbook of Sociological Theory. Edited by: Turner JH. 2001, USA: Springer Science & Business Media B.V./Books, 699-719.
87.
Duffy M: Reproducing labor inequalities: challenges for feminists conceptualizing care at the intersections of gender, race and class. Gend Soc. 2005, 19: 66-82. 10.1177/0891243204269499.CrossRef
88.
OECD: Investing in high-quality early childhood education and care (ECEC). Early Childhood and Schools. 2012, Paris, France: OECD, 8-
89.
Prentice S: High stakes: the "investable" child and the economic reframing of childcare. Signs. 2009, 34 (3): 687-710. 10.1086/593711.CrossRef
90.
England P, Folbre N: The cost of caring. Ann Am Acad Polit Soc Sci. 1999, 561: 39-51. 10.1177/0002716299561001003.CrossRef
91.
Press F: Trends and debates in ECEC policy. A literature review canvassing policy developments in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Building an International Collaboration in Early Childhood Education and Care Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth (ARACY). Edited by: Brennan D. 2009, Sydney, Australia: Social Policy Research Centre, UNSW, Australian Policy Online
92.
Press F, Skattebol J: Early childhood activism, minor politics and rescuscitating vision: a tentative foray into the use of ‘intersections’ to influence early childhood policy. Contemp Issues Early Child. 2007, 8 (3): 180-191. 10.2304/ciec.2007.8.3.180.CrossRef
93.
de Schipper EJ, Riksen-Walraven JM, Geurts SAE: Multiple determinants of caregiver behavior in child care centers. Early Child Res Q. 2007, 22 (3): 312-326. 10.1016/j.ecresq.2007.04.004.CrossRef
Metadata
Title
Fair relationships and policies to support family day care educators’ mental health: a qualitative study
Authors
Lara Corr
Elise Davis
Kay Cook
Elizabeth Waters
Anthony D LaMontagne
Publication date
01-12-2014
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Public Health / Issue 1/2014
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2458
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-14-1214

Other articles of this Issue 1/2014

BMC Public Health 1/2014 Go to the issue

Research article

HIV associated hypocalcaemia among diarrheic patients in northwest Ethiopia: a cross sectional study

Research article

The challenges and successes of implementing a sustainable antimicrobial resistance surveillance programme in Nepal

Research article

Educational mobility and weight gain over 13 years in a longitudinal study of young women

Research article

Exploring obesogenic environments: the design and development of the migrant obesogenic perception of the environment questionnaire (MOPE-Q) using a sample of Iranian migrants in Australia

Research article

Wanting to attend isn’t just wanting to quit: why some disadvantaged smokers regularly attend smoking cessation behavioural therapy while others do not: a qualitative study

Research article

Differences in hypertension between informal and formal areas of Ouagadougou, a sub-Saharan African city