A diary study of UK workers self-managing long-term health conditions

Abstract

Purpose

Little is known about characteristics of workers' self-management of long-term health conditions or their changeability. Specifically, little insight exists into self-management confidence and specifically whether engaged workers are likely to be confident in self-managing a long-term condition at work.

Methods

Using an online diary with six timepoints over a 10-week period, UK workers with long-term health conditions were asked to report on their self-management confidence and work engagement fortnightly.

Results

Sixty-seven workers made at least one diary entry. Fifty-seven participated at timepoint 1, 39 in three or more timepoints and 11 in all six. Multi-level modelling revealed workers' self-management confidence not significantly changing over time. Consistent with one study hypothesis, modelling revealed work engagement having an effect on people's self-management confidence.

Conclusion

Work engagement might promote workers' long-term condition self-management. Providing support for work engagement could benefit people's self-management confidence although more research is needed to ascertain the relationship between the variables.