The Relocation of a Health Care Department's Impact on Staff A ă Cross-Sectional Survey

Objective: This survey compares certain quality of work-life factors ă between a relocated work group and a control group. Methods: A ă self-administered, cross-sectional survey was conducted 12 months after ă five departments (304 workers) had been relocated between two public ă health sites. The survey explored the workers' psychosocial job ă characteristics, their perceived health, and psycho-organizational ă constraints. The results compared both the relocated and control groups ă by using univariate and then multivariate statistical analyzes. Results: ă When compared with the control group (n = 272), the relocated group (n = ă 180) showed a higher prevalence of psychosocial job characteristic ă ``isostrain.'' The relocated group showed greater ă psycho-organizational constraints regarding the organizations favoring ă communication and team relationships. Conclusions: It seems that staff ă relocation can provoke a sense of uncertainty and isolation. Perhaps ă better communication might have reduced this and deter possible negative ă health outcomes.