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A Comparison of the Self-Perceived Organisational and Social Work Environment among Swedish Occupational Therapists in Different Job Sectors : An Observational Study

Dahlbäck, Elisabeth LU and Håkansson, Carita LU orcid (2023) In International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 20(4).
Abstract

Sick leave due to mental health problems is increasing, and there is evidence that it is associated with the individual’s self-perceived organisational and social work environment. The aim of this study was to compare occupational therapists’ self-perceived organisational and social work environments in different job sectors. The goal is to identify the sectors with the most unfavourable work environment and thus where the need to improve the work environment, to prevent mental health problems, is greatest. A web survey was emailed to working members of the Swedish Association of Occupational Therapists in February 2018 (n = 7600). The response rate was 48% (n = 3658). Studied job sectors were somatic specialist health care; elderly... (More)

Sick leave due to mental health problems is increasing, and there is evidence that it is associated with the individual’s self-perceived organisational and social work environment. The aim of this study was to compare occupational therapists’ self-perceived organisational and social work environments in different job sectors. The goal is to identify the sectors with the most unfavourable work environment and thus where the need to improve the work environment, to prevent mental health problems, is greatest. A web survey was emailed to working members of the Swedish Association of Occupational Therapists in February 2018 (n = 7600). The response rate was 48% (n = 3658). Studied job sectors were somatic specialist health care; elderly care; habilitation; psychiatric health care; primary health care; and university (n = 2648). This sample is representative of Swedish occupational therapists with respect to age, gender, and job sector. The web survey included questions on their sociodemographic characteristics and self-perceived organisational and social work environment regarding workload, control, community in the workplace, reward, justice, and values. Questions on the self-perceived organisational and social work environment were assessed by the QPS mismatch questionnaire. Differences in work environmental conditions between the job sectors were tested with ANOVA and post hoc multiple-group analysis. The results showed that occupational therapists working in psychiatric health care perceived the highest proportion of unfavourable working conditions. Occupational therapists who worked at universities perceived a higher workload than occupational therapists in most of the other studied job sectors. These job sectors need to be specifically addressed with adjustments to prevent mental health problems.

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author
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
job sector, mental health, occupational therapist, organisational and social work environment
in
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
volume
20
issue
4
article number
3009
publisher
MDPI AG
external identifiers
  • scopus:85148965407
  • pmid:36833704
ISSN
1661-7827
DOI
10.3390/ijerph20043009
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
fafa899d-2537-453f-b9b6-fee001ad4aae
date added to LUP
2023-03-20 09:25:34
date last changed
2024-04-18 19:26:28
@article{fafa899d-2537-453f-b9b6-fee001ad4aae,
  abstract     = {{<p>Sick leave due to mental health problems is increasing, and there is evidence that it is associated with the individual’s self-perceived organisational and social work environment. The aim of this study was to compare occupational therapists’ self-perceived organisational and social work environments in different job sectors. The goal is to identify the sectors with the most unfavourable work environment and thus where the need to improve the work environment, to prevent mental health problems, is greatest. A web survey was emailed to working members of the Swedish Association of Occupational Therapists in February 2018 (n = 7600). The response rate was 48% (n = 3658). Studied job sectors were somatic specialist health care; elderly care; habilitation; psychiatric health care; primary health care; and university (n = 2648). This sample is representative of Swedish occupational therapists with respect to age, gender, and job sector. The web survey included questions on their sociodemographic characteristics and self-perceived organisational and social work environment regarding workload, control, community in the workplace, reward, justice, and values. Questions on the self-perceived organisational and social work environment were assessed by the QPS mismatch questionnaire. Differences in work environmental conditions between the job sectors were tested with ANOVA and post hoc multiple-group analysis. The results showed that occupational therapists working in psychiatric health care perceived the highest proportion of unfavourable working conditions. Occupational therapists who worked at universities perceived a higher workload than occupational therapists in most of the other studied job sectors. These job sectors need to be specifically addressed with adjustments to prevent mental health problems.</p>}},
  author       = {{Dahlbäck, Elisabeth and Håkansson, Carita}},
  issn         = {{1661-7827}},
  keywords     = {{job sector; mental health; occupational therapist; organisational and social work environment}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{4}},
  publisher    = {{MDPI AG}},
  series       = {{International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health}},
  title        = {{A Comparison of the Self-Perceived Organisational and Social Work Environment among Swedish Occupational Therapists in Different Job Sectors : An Observational Study}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20043009}},
  doi          = {{10.3390/ijerph20043009}},
  volume       = {{20}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}