The Complexities of Family Caregiving at Work: A Mixed-Methods Study

The current project examined the impact of caregiving and caregiving-work conflict on employees' well-being. A sequential explanatory mixed-methods design (QUAN -> qual) was utilized, and a total of 880 employees from a large health-care plan employer completed an online survey. Forty-five caregivers who completed the survey also participated in one of the five focus groups held 1 to 2 months later. Employed caregivers were significantly (p < .05) more likely to indicate poorer physical and mental health than noncaregivers; among caregivers (n = 370), caregiving-work conflict emerged as the most significant predictor of well-being and fully mediated the empirical relationship between burden and well-being. The focus group findings complemented the quantitative results; many of the challenges employed caregivers experience stem from their ability or inability to effectively balance their employment and caregiving roles. The results suggest the need to focus on caregiving-work conflict when constructing new or translating existing evidence-based caregiver interventions.