Work, Family, and Adult Health

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Work, Family, and Adult Health

• Joseph G. Grzywacz, Ph.D.
• Department of Family and Community Medicine

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About the Author

• Ranging from undergraduate degree
  in health promotion and wellness to
  my postdoctoral training in the
  social ecology of health every stitch
  of my academic training is
  interdisciplinary
• I coordinated a worksite health promotion program
  for nearly 10 years. During that time, I
  observed daily life, particularly aspects of work
  and family, got in the way of peoples best
  intentions to change there behavior.
• Work, family, and health are compelling because
  each major element is multidimensional, dynamic,
  and connected in so many ways. Just when you
  think youve got it figured out, you discover
  something fresh and provocative!

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Goal and Specific Aims

• The goal of this presentation is to illustrate
  the centrality of daily work and family life for
  understanding adult health.
• To accomplish this goal this presentation will
• Describe work- and family-related trends that
  coincide with pressing public health problems
• Overview theoretical explanations why daily work
  and family life contribute to health problems,
  and present supporting evidence
• Translate basic ideas for public health practice

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Learning Objectives

• Learners will be able to
• List at least three trends related to work and
  family that bear upon health problems among
  adults
• Outline one theoretical explanation why daily
  work and family life would affect adult health
• Describe at least two implications of adults
  daily work and family lives for health
  practitioners

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Some Important Health Trends

• Obesity rates doubled for women and tripled for
  men since 1960 to 2000
• Severe obesity quadrupled since 1986
• Diabetes increased more than 30 since 1970s
• Depression identification and treatment increased
  more than 25 from 1987 - 1997
• Depression is projected to become the 2nd leading
  cause of disability worldwide
• The prevalence of health risk behaviors such as
  physical inactivity, smoking, and binge alcohol
  use have remained stable for the past decade
  despite widespread attempts to reduce.

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Coinciding Demographic Social Trends

• Womens participation in full-time, year round
  employment rose from 27 in 1971 to 42 in 1997
• In 2002, 61 of mothers of children less than 3
  participated in the civilian labor market versus
  34 in 1975
• Mens real wages fell 59 cents an hour each year
  from 1989 to 1996
• Adults are spending more time in paid work
• By 1998, the typical family spent 182 more hours
  in paid work than they did in 1989
• The percentage of households w/children that were
  single-parent increased from 6 in 1950 to 27 in
  1998
• Decline in manufacturing and growth in the 24/7
  service sector economy

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Trend Summary

• Economic and social forces over the past 40 years
  have dramatically reshaped adults daily work and
  family lives
• Men are performing a greater share of household
  tasks
• More children are spending longing periods in
  non-parental care
• Women, men, families, and employers are trying to
  balance work and family
• Modifications to daily work and family life have
  been paralleled by troubling health trends
• Are changes in daily work and family life
  contribute to poor adult health?

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Theoretical Linkages between Work, Family, and
Adult Health

• The Priority Hypothesis
• Thesis Satisfying work and family
  responsibilities is a central task of adult
  development which is more important than others
• Parents tend to work and family responsibilities
  before tending to personal health needs
• Adults, particularly mothers, cut back on sleep
  in order to accomplish their work and family tasks

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Theoretical Linkages between Work, Family, and
Adult Health

• The Time-Bind Hypothesis
• Thesis Attending to work and family leaves
  little time for attending to health
• Working parents have less leisure time
• Work and family undermine regular exercise,
  especially for women
• Increased reliance on pre-packaged foods that are
  high in refined carbohydrate and low in fiber

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Theoretical Linkages between Work, Family, and
Adult Health

• The Strain Hypothesis
• Thesis The challenges and complexities of daily
  work and family life produces psychological
  strain.
• Higher levels of work-family conflict associated
  with depression, obesity, and hypertension
• Difficulty combining work and family is
  associated with increased smoking, more problem
  drinking, less physical activity, and poorer diet

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Translating the Centrality of Work and
Family Implications for Health Practitioners

• Acknowledge the priority adults give to their
  work and family responsibilities
• Build interventions around priorities
• Would campaigns promoting play with children or
  family outings promote physical activity more
  effectively than those emphasizing individual
  exercise?
• Lack of time, for many adults, is not an excuse.
• Would a brief intervention or a self-guided
  program work as well as a structured weekly
  program?
• Help create time by targeting demands on adults
  time (e.g., eliminating/restricting early morning
  or evening business meetings promoting maximal
  stability in workers schedules)
• Help individuals make better use of the time they
  have.

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Translating the Centrality of Work and
Family Implications for Health Practitioners

• Target the factors that contribute to conflicts
  between work and family
• Can work schedules and school schedules coincide?
• Make sure that health advice/programs do not
  (inadvertently) create conflicts between work and
  family

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Summary

• Adults daily work and family lives have changed
  dramatically in the past 40 years, and these
  changes have coincided with concerning health
  issues
• Ample theoretical and empirical evidence exists
  suggesting that daily work and family life
  affects adult health
• Health professionals can use what we know about
  adults daily work and family lives to identify
  targets for health promotion programs, and to
  inform the design of those programs.

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References