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Is working in culturally diverse working environment associated with physicians’ work-related well-being? A cross-sectional survey study among Finnish physicians

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  • Aalto, Anna-Mari
  • Heponiemi, Tarja
  • Väänänen, Ari
  • Bergbom, Barbara
  • Sinervo, Timo
  • Elovainio, Marko

Abstract

International mobility of health care professionals is increasing, though little is known about how working in a culturally diverse team affects the native physicians’ psychosocial work environment. We examined Finnish physicians’ perceptions of work-related wellbeing according to whether they had foreign-born colleagues (FBCs) in their work unit. We also examined whether work-related resources moderate the potential association between work-related wellbeing and working alongside FBCs. A cross-sectional survey was conducted for a random sample of physicians in Finland in 2010 (3826 respondents, response rate 55%). Analyses were restricted to native Finnish physicians working in public health care. The results were analyzed by ANCOVA. In unadjusted analyses, having FBCs was related to poor team climate (p<0.001) and poor job satisfaction (p=0.001). Those physicians who reported high procedural justice and high job control perceived also higher job satisfaction even if they had many FBCs in the work unit (p=0.007 for interaction between FBCs and procedural justice and p<0.001 for interaction between FBCs and job control). These associations were robust to adjustments for age, sex, health care sector, specialization, on-call duty, employment contract, full-time employment and leadership position. The results indicate that culturally diverse work units face challenges related to team climate and job satisfaction. The results also show that leadership plays an important role in culturally diverse work units. The potential challenges of culturally diverse teams for native physicians may be reduced by fair decision-making and by increasing physicians’ job control.

Suggested Citation

  • Aalto, Anna-Mari & Heponiemi, Tarja & Väänänen, Ari & Bergbom, Barbara & Sinervo, Timo & Elovainio, Marko, 2014. "Is working in culturally diverse working environment associated with physicians’ work-related well-being? A cross-sectional survey study among Finnish physicians," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 117(2), pages 187-194.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:hepoli:v:117:y:2014:i:2:p:187-194
    DOI: 10.1016/j.healthpol.2014.02.006
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Steven Simoens & Jeremy Hurst, 2006. "The Supply of Physician Services in OECD Countries," OECD Health Working Papers 21, OECD Publishing.
    2. Heponiemi, Tarja & Manderbacka, Kristiina & Vänskä, Jukka & Elovainio, Marko, 2013. "Can organizational justice help the retention of general practitioners?," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 110(1), pages 22-28.
    3. Dreachslin, Janice L. & Hunt, Portia L. & Sprainer, Elaine, 2000. "Workforce diversity: implications for the effectiveness of health care delivery teams," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 50(10), pages 1403-1414, May.
    4. Mick, Stephen S. & Lee, Shoou-Yih D. & Wodchis, Walter P., 2000. "Variations in geographical distribution of foreign and domestically trained physicians in the United States: 'safety nets' or 'surplus exacerbation'?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 185-202, January.
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    1. Sousa, Cátia & Gonçalves, Gabriela, 2019. "Multiculturality as an antecedent to work wellbeing and work passion," Journal of Tourism, Sustainability and Well-being, Cinturs - Research Centre for Tourism, Sustainability and Well-being, University of Algarve, vol. 7(2), pages 101-124.
    2. Katarzyna Dubas-Jakóbczyk & Alicja Domagała & Dorota Kiedik & Juan Nicolás Peña-Sánchez, 2019. "Exploring Satisfaction and Migration Intentions of Physicians in Three University Hospitals in Poland," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-15, December.
    3. Alicja Domagała & Małgorzata M. Bała & Dawid Storman & Juan Nicolás Peña-Sánchez & Mateusz J. Świerz & Mateusz Kaczmarczyk & Monika Storman, 2018. "Factors Associated with Satisfaction of Hospital Physicians: A Systematic Review on European Data," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-21, November.

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