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Introduction: Eldercare workers often spend prolonged time on feet and may have limited opportunities for prolonged seated rest, potentially contributing to increased short-term needs for recovery. However, empirical studies investigating whether sitting contributes to recovery in eldercare are scarce. This study aimed to explore the extent to which time sitting relative to being on feet related to recovery needs among eldercare workers.

Methods: Swedish homecare (n = 92) and nursing home (n = 69) workers wore thigh accelerometers for seven consecutive days to assess physical behaviors. Short (≤5 min), moderate (>5 to ≤30 min), and long (>30 min) bouts of time sitting and on feet were identified, with their relative distribution expressed in five isometric log ratios (ILRs) and analyzed using compositional data analysis. Workers also completed a questionnaire assessing their need for recovery (NFR). Data were analyzed using Bayesian linear mixed models with ILRs as independent variables, NFR as the dependent variable, eldercare setting (homecare or nursing home), as a covariate, and eldercare unit (i.e., the organizational unit responsible for a specific area in homecare or a section within a nursing home) as a random intercept.

Results: Overall, associations between physical behaviors and NFR were weak and uncertain, with credible intervals (CIs) overlapping zero and small explained variance (R² values between 0.05 and 0.07). A tendency toward lower NFR was observed with more time sitting relative to being on feet (ILR1: β = -0.25, 95% CI [-0.57 – 0.07]). More time spent in long bouts relative to moderate and short bouts of sitting was weakly associated with lower NFR (ILR4: β = -0.22, 95% CI [-0.51 – 0.06]), while more time in moderate bouts of sitting relative to short bouts of sitting was associated with less NFR (ILR5: β = -1.07, 95% CI [-1.90 – -0.24]).

Discussion: Although associations were modest, the results suggest that moderate and long bouts of sitting may provide meaningful opportunities for recovery during work and reduce the need for recovery. This highlights the potential value of organizing work such that workers are able to sit for at least 5 consecutive minutes at a time throughout the working day. However, not all sitting behaviors provide recovery: some seated periods may have occurred during cognitively or emotionally demanding tasks rather than indicating breaks from work. The specific activities performed while sitting were unknown in the current study, and future research should distinguish between task-related and break-related sitting to better understand when sitting serves as an opportunity for recovery.

Conclusion: Moderate and long bouts of sitting may support recovery for eldercare workers. More research is needed on the content and context of sitting that provides an opportunity for recovery to inform work organization to better support health and well-being among eldercare workers.