Facility proprietary status, role overload, workplace support, and job satisfaction of direct care workers in assisted living

The purpose of this dissertation is four-fold: (1) to enhance our understanding of job satisfaction of direct care workers in assisted living facilities for older adults; (2) to contribute to theory advancement in job satisfaction; (3) to highlight the importance of using multi-level methods in analysis for nested data; and (4) to provide practice and policy recommendations for social work and assisted living industry management.; Although job satisfaction is related to employees' quality of life and residents' quality of care and quality of life in long-term care settings, few studies have investigated job satisfaction in assisted living. Moreover, previous research has focused on individual-level correlates of job satisfaction, and not on facility-level characteristics that may influence job satisfaction.; Based on an integration of three theories related to job satisfaction, this study examines both individual- and facility-level correlates of job satisfaction, among a sample of 984 direct care workers in 108 assisted living facilities surveyed in Wisconsin. This study tests hypotheses about the direct, indirect, and moderating effects on job satisfaction of: supervisor instrumental and emotional support, coworker instrumental and emotional support, role overload, pay, benefits, facility non-profit status and institutional support.; Primary results from Hierarchical Linear Modeling regressions indicate: (1) job satisfaction is positively related to age, benefits, institutional support, supervisor instrumental and emotional support, and coworker instrumental and emotional support; (2) job satisfaction is negatively related to education and role overload; (3) role overload mediates the relationship between job satisfaction and: institutional support, supervisor instrumental support and coworker instrumental support; (4) supervisor emotional support moderates the association between job satisfaction and role overload; (5) job satisfaction varies across facilities; and (6) workers in non-profit facilities report higher supervisor emotional support, which is associated with job satisfaction.; Implications discussed include: (1) theory advancement in the area of job satisfaction, (2) research methodology (conventional regression analysis vs. Hierarchical Linear Modeling), and (3) human resource policy in long-term care and social work practice and advocacy related to assisted living.