Petra Wagman1, Ulrika Lindmark1, Bo Rolander1,2, Charlotte Wåhlin3, Carita Håkansson4. 1. a School of Health and Welfare , Jönköping University , Jönköping , Sweden. 2. b Futurum, Academy for Health and Care , Jönköping County Council , Jönköping , Sweden. 3. c Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Occupational and Environmental Medicine Center , Linköping University , Linköping , Sweden. 4. d Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine , Lund University , Lund , Sweden.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Health care employees are often women, a group that has high degrees of sick leave and perhaps problems attaining occupational balance. However, people think differently about their everyday activities and it is therefore important to take their perceptions into account but occupational balance has not yet been measured in health professionals. The aim was to describe occupational balance in three different samples of health professionals in Sweden. A further aim was to investigate whether occupational therapists (OTs) rate their occupational balance differently from other health professionals. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Four hundred and eighty-two health professionals, employees in public dentistry, mental health care and OTs, aged 21-70 years participated. The participants' occupational balance was measured using the occupational balance questionnaire (OBQ). RESULTS: The ratings of occupational balance were similar to earlier studies and did not differ significantly between the samples. The OTs' occupational balance was also similar to that of the other health professionals. CONCLUSION: The similarities in occupational balance indicate the same difficulties in attaining it. SIGNIFICANCE: The result highlights the possibility that working people face similar difficulties in achieving occupational balance. Further research is warranted about how to attain it.
BACKGROUND: Health care employees are often women, a group that has high degrees of sick leave and perhaps problems attaining occupational balance. However, people think differently about their everyday activities and it is therefore important to take their perceptions into account but occupational balance has not yet been measured in health professionals. The aim was to describe occupational balance in three different samples of health professionals in Sweden. A further aim was to investigate whether occupational therapists (OTs) rate their occupational balance differently from other health professionals. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Four hundred and eighty-two health professionals, employees in public dentistry, mental health care and OTs, aged 21-70 years participated. The participants' occupational balance was measured using the occupational balance questionnaire (OBQ). RESULTS: The ratings of occupational balance were similar to earlier studies and did not differ significantly between the samples. The OTs' occupational balance was also similar to that of the other health professionals. CONCLUSION: The similarities in occupational balance indicate the same difficulties in attaining it. SIGNIFICANCE: The result highlights the possibility that working people face similar difficulties in achieving occupational balance. Further research is warranted about how to attain it.
Entities:
Keywords:
Everyday life; health and well-being; occupational balance questionnaire (OBQ)
Authors: Annika Lexén; Ida Kåhlin; Lena-Karin Erlandsson; Carita Håkansson Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2020-05-12 Impact factor: 3.390
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