Discussion: View Thread

Call for Proposals on Eldercare: Special Issue in Journal of Business and Psychology

  • 1.  Call for Proposals on Eldercare: Special Issue in Journal of Business and Psychology

    Posted 07-01-2017 18:29

    ***Apologies for cross-posting***

     

     

    Special Issue on Eldercare: Call for Proposals

    Journal of Business and Psychology

    Proposals due August 31, 2017

     

    Special Issue Editors

    Tracy Griggs, Winthrop University

    Greg Thrasher, Oakland University

    Charles E. Lance, University of the Western Cape

    Boris Baltes, Wayne State University

    Janet Barnes-Farrell, University of Connecticut

     

    The Caregiving Crisis and the Impact of an Aging America on US Workers and their Employers

    Today, nearly one in five workers cares for an elderly spouse, family member or friend (AARP, 2015) and roughly 60% of working caregivers report that their eldercare responsibilities affects some part of their work experience (Fortinsky, 2011).  Caregiving has been linked to adverse psychological and physiological health outcomes and several national studies of working caregivers suggest that organizations stand to lose billions of dollars per year to lost productivity, higher rates of tardiness, absenteeism, and turnover among employees with eldercare responsibilities. Despite the looming disruption to the employee-employer relationship as more employees take on caregiving roles, very little research in IO/HR/OB has addressed the experiences of working elder caregivers.

    Outside of the IO/HR/OB literature, research on the effects of elder caregiving has a long history within the fields of gerontology and lifespan psychology. Empirical and meta-analytic results from these areas consistently finds that engaging in eldercare increases the presence of financial strains, marital strain, and depression, while having negative effects on subjective well-being and physical health (e.g., Kramer & Kipnis, 1995; Pinquart & Sorensen, 2006). Within the organization psychology literature, Shoptaugh, Phelps, and Visio (2004) highlight the absence of research on eldercare in relation to job attitudes stating, "Surprisingly, especially in light of the growing interest in employer- sponsored eldercare assistance, we found few studies that explored eldercare responsibilities in relation to job attitudes." (p. 182). While there have been a handful of articles within the IO/OB literature that examine eldercare in relation to constructs such as emotional health, engagement, and organizational support (e.g., Lee, Walker, & Shoup, 2001; Zacher & Winter, 2011), there is a substantial need for an increased focus on the processes and boundary conditions that surround the effects of eldercare on employees. 

    The eldercare literature consistently points to the significant demands and resource use associated with caregiving roles. Furthermore, eldercare has been part of the discussion in much of the work-family literature, frequently measured as a demographic descriptor of study samples, or cited in the discussion as an important future consideration – but to date, very few empirical papers in our field directly address the outcomes of eldercare.

    This special issue at JBP is specifically targeted at research on eldercare and its effect on important individual and organizational outcomes. Our goal is to highlight the practical significance of this issue within modern organizations by bringing the topic of eldercare into the main stream of organizational psychology research. Our call will focus on papers that apply novel methodologies across diverse samples to deepen our understanding of how this emerging issue affects organizations as well as the employees within them.

     

    Submission Process

    Submissions will be first evaluated based on an initial proposal (see details below). Proposals will be reviewed by the guest editors. Authors will receive a response to their proposals with the potential for an invitation to submit a full manuscript. While we are hopeful that the  proposal process will help authors align their papers with the goals of the special issue, acceptance of a proposal does not guarantee acceptance of the final manuscript. Proposals should be 750 words excluding tables, figures, references. Please submit proposals by email to Tracy Griggs (GriggsT@winthrop.edu) no later than August 31, 2017.   Submissions should be saved as .pdf, or .doc and should be formatted using APA style.

     

    Proposals for the special issue may be either inductive, deductive, or conceptual in nature. Proposal will be evaluated based on:

    ·         Fit with special feature goals

    ·         Theoretical, conceptual, and practical relevance to eldercare care issues in the context of work

    ·         Importance of and incremental contribution of proposed study

    ·         Methodological rigor

    ·         Expectation that the project and/or manuscript can be completed by the established deadlines 

     

    Information to be highlighted in proposal:

    ·         Authorship team

    ·         Contributions to the area of eldercare research and practice

    ·         Explicit hypotheses/propositions as warranted

    ·         Sample description and data collection plan as warranted

    ·         Rationale for timeliness of expected project completion

    ·         Data analysis plan and power analysis as warranted

     

    Timeline

    July 1, 2017 –Call for Papers

    August 31, 2017 – Proposals due

    October 1, 2017 – Proposal decisions sent out

    March 15, 2018 - Full manuscripts due

    June 1, 2018 – Full manuscript decisions/request for revisions sent out

    Sept 1, 2018 – Revised papers due

    Nov 1, 2018 – Second decisions/request for revisions sent out

    Dec 31, 2018 – Final papers due

    2019 – Final publication

     

    Some potential topics that we are interested in, but not limited to include:

     

    Defining and distinguishing eldercare from other caregiving experiences

    • (e.g  childcare, caring for an individual with special needs) and what implications that has for workers and employer support?

    Impact of increasing caregiving demands on worker outcomes

    • Impact of eldercare on employee stress and wellbeing outcomes (e.g. Stress, anxiety, work-life conflicts, depression, physical health declines, neglect of self-care while caregiving, etc.)
    • Extent to which eldercare may lead to work-life enrichment?
    • Impact of eldercare on work outcomes (satisfaction, commitment, performance workplace/workforce withdrawal behaviors total workforce withdrawal)
    • Career related "opportunity costs" associated with eldercare (lost wages, sacrifices to career or promotion, etc.)

    Processes by which effective eldercare leads to successful work outcomes

    • Profiles of successful working elder caregivers and work-related motives of caregivers
    • Development of models of stress and coping for caregivers
    • Models describing decision-making related to resource allocation, retirement planning, etc.

    Resources which may buffer stress or caregiving demands

    • Impact of formal workplace policies and or benefits on the eldercare experience, or, the extent to which eldercare leads to benefits use or benefits exhaustion
    • Impact of informal support on the caregiving experience or caregiver outcomes (e.g. support from supervisors, coworkers, friends, church, neighbors, community)
    • Outcomes of employer based benefits or support programs - stress management, family caregiving planning, eldercare referrals, eldercare subsidies, preventative health care, retirement planning, etc.

    Individual Differences in elder caregiving experiences and outcomes

    • The influence of culture on, or cultural expectations on, the experiences of working caregivers
    • Gender differences in obligations to provide care, in the eldercare experience, or outcomes from eldercare experience
    • Caregiving profiles  (e.g. what variables influence the caregiving experience (e.g. degree of involvement in basic personal care, level of assistance with daily living, # of supportive siblings, financial resources, availability of one trusted caretaker, etc.))?

     

     

    REFERENCES

     

    AARP & The National Alliance for Caregiving (2015). Caregiving in the U.S. Retrieved from: http://www.aarp.org/content/dam/aarp/ppi/2015/caregiving-in-the-united-states-2015-report-revised.pdf 

    Fortinsky, R. (2011), Juggling work and eldercare responsibilities. The National Institute for Occupational

    Safety and Health, CPH News Views 2011 Mar; (20):1-2.

    Lee, J. A., Walker, M., & Shoup, R. (2001). Balancing elder care responsibilities and work: The impact on emotional health. Journal of Business and Psychology16, 277-289.

    Pinquart, M., & Sörensen, S. (2006). Gender differences in caregiver stressors, social resources, and health: An updated meta-analysis. The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 61, 33-45.

    Shoptaugh, C. F., Phelps, J. A., & Visio, M. E. (2004). Employee eldercare responsibilities: should organizations care? Journal of Business and Psychology19, 179-196.

    Zacher, H., & Winter, G. (2011). Eldercare demands, strain, and work engagement: The moderating role of perceived organizational support. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 79, 667-680.

     

     

    Tracy Lambert Griggs, Ph.D.

    Assistant Professor of Management

    College of Business Administration

    516 Thurmond Building

    Winthrop University

    Rock Hill, SC 29733

    Tele: (803) 323-4624

    E-mail: griggst@winthrop.edu

    https://www.linkedin.com/in/TracyLGriggs