CARE JOBS: an educational game on job quality in chronic care settings

  • Ezra Dessers KU Leuven
  • Leen De Kort KU Leuven
  • Geert Van Hootegem KU Leuven

Abstract

CARE JOBS is a game designed for educating people working in chronic care settings on the relation between job characteristics and job quality. The game is based on Karasek’s Job Demand/Control (JD/C) Model, which predicts that job quality results from the joint effects of workload (i.e. job demands) and autonomy (i.e. job control). The game is about dressing toy dolls, which represent residential care clients. Twelve, sixteen or twenty participants are divided over four tables, each representing a residential care unit. At each table, one of the job types identified by the JD/C Model is simulated. Job demands are manipulated by controlling the number of dolls. Job controls are manipulated by (lack of) strict clothing rules and (lack of) access to extra clothing in the storage. Participants are instructed to dress their residents in six minutes time. In the debriefing, participants are asked after their results and experiences. Guided by the facilitator, participants reconstruct the JD/C Model. The full game can be played in half an hour time. The game is appealing because of its simplicity, and offers starting points for further interventions in the organization of work.
Published
2016-10-30