Promoting the physical and mental health of day-care centre staff in Leverkusen

The health of professionals in the day-care sector in Germany appears to be increasingly at risk: the people who work in day-care centres are often absent due to illness. The physical, psychological and mental stresses not only lead to employee absences, but also affect the quality of care, education and upbringing of children in the centres. In addition, they at least indirectly affect the ability of parents to work and increase the number of sick days taken by children. The health burden on employees in a key social profession is not only an educational policy issue, but also a health policy problem that is associated with enormous costs.
On behalf of Pronova BKK, the FiBS team is conducting a study to systematically record the health impairments of skilled workers in the daycare sector in order to identify funding needs in this area and to counteract this negative trend.
The study uses a mixed-method approach. Firstly, our team conducts problem-centred interviews with relevant employees of the city of Leverkusen. Subsequently, two focus groups are implemented with selected directors and educators from municipal daycare centres in Leverkusen. The evaluation and analysis of these focus groups forms the basis for our quantitative survey of all daycare centres in the city.
Pronova BKK will use the study results to develop and implement measures to improve the health of daycare professionals.

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