Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38714977›Full record

ArticleBMC public health2024

Working from home during COVID-19: boundary management tactics and energy resources management strategies reported by public service employees in a qualitative study.

Laura Seinsche, Kristina Schubin, Jana Neumann, Holger Pfaff

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC public health, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Laura SeinscheUniversity of Cologne, Faculty of Human Sciences & Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, Institute of Medical Sociology, Health Services Research and Rehabilitation Science, Chair of Quality Development and Evaluation in Rehabilitation, Eupener Str. 129, 50933, Cologne, Germany. l.seinsche@smail.uni-koeln.de.
Kristina SchubinUniversity of Cologne, Faculty of Human Sciences & Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, Institute of Medical Sociology, Health Services Research and Rehabilitation Science, Chair of Quality Development and Evaluation in Rehabilitation, Eupener Str. 129, 50933, Cologne, Germany.
Jana NeumannUniversity of Cologne, Faculty of Human Sciences & Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, Institute of Medical Sociology, Health Services Research and Rehabilitation Science, Chair of Quality Development and Evaluation in Rehabilitation, Eupener Str. 129, 50933, Cologne, Germany.
Holger PfaffUniversity of Cologne, Faculty of Human Sciences & Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, Institute of Medical Sociology, Health Services Research and Rehabilitation Science, Chair of Quality Development and Evaluation in Rehabilitation, Eupener Str. 129, 50933, Cologne, Germany.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundIncreased working from home has imposed new challenges on public service employees, while also granting opportunities for job crafting. Grounding on the Job Demands-Resources model and Hobfoll's Conservation of Resources theory this exploratory research aims to investigate the work-nonwork balance of employees one and a half years after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the research focus lies on employees' job crafting strategies to optimize their working from home experience concerning boundary management and energy resource management.

methodsTwelve semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with public service employees from different sectors in Germany. The experiences were content analyzed using the software MaxQDA and inductive and deductive categories were derived.

resultsBoundary management comprised different strategies such as communicative (e.g., negotiating work time), physical (e.g., going to the garden), temporal (e.g., logging off in between the work day) and behavioral (e.g., prioritizing tasks) strategies. The job crafting strategies regarding energy management included preventing exhaustion (e.g. taking breaks), healthy cooking and energy management in case of sickness (e.g. deciding on sick leave).

conclusionsThis qualitative case study enriches research on job crafting by offering insights on boundary tactics and energy resources management strategies for remote working during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results point out different starting points for employees and decision makers, how a work-nonwork balance, energy management and thus employees' wellbeing may be increased when working from home in the future.

trial registrationThe study design and methodology were approved by the Ethics Committee of the University of Cologne and the study was prospectively registered (Ref No. 21-1417_1).

Indexed as

COVID-19Qualitative ResearchAdultFemaleGermanyHumansInterviews as TopicMaleMiddle AgedPublic SectorSARS-CoV-2TeleworkingBoundary managementCOVID-19Energy managementExhaustionPublic serviceWell-beingWork delimitationWork-home conflictWorking from home

Identifiers

PMID38714977
PMCPMC11075362

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.