Problematisk skolfrånvaro är ett aktuellt socialt problem som ökar i omfattning. Detta examensarbete syftar därför till att undersöka skolans, socialtjänstens samt barn- och ungdomspsykiatrins arbete med att främja skolnärvaro samt återintegrera grundskoleelever i undervisningen. Vidare syftar arbetet till att undersöka hur samverkan ser ut mellan dessa aktörer. Denna kvalitativa studie baseras på sju semistrukturerade intervjuer med yrkesverksamma inom skola, socialtjänst samt barn- och ungdomspsykiatrin. Datamaterialet har analyserats utifrån handlingsutrymme, samverkan, ekologisk systemteori samt tidigare forskning. Studiens resultat visar att skolnärvaro utgör en friskfaktor för barns välbefinnande och utveckling. Av resultatet framgår även att neuropsykiatriska funktionsnedsättningar är den främsta orsaken till problematisk skolfrånvaro, detta eftersom stödinsatserna är bristfälliga. Likväl påvisar samtliga intervjupersoner att arbetet med problematisk skolfrånvaro upplevs som en utmaning. Studien redogör även att en välfungerande samverkan är avgörande vid arbetet med problematisk skolfrånvaro. Våra resultat synliggör däremot att både den interna och externa samverkan gällande problematisk skolfrånvaro är bristfällig. Studien belyser således vikten av att finna fungerande arbetssätt för att främja skolnärvaro och kunna återintegrera elever i undervisningen. / Problematic school absenteeism is a current and increasing societal problem. The purpose of this master thesis is to create an understanding for the school, social services, and the children and youth psychiatry’s work to promote school attendance and reintegrate elementary school students into the education system. The thesis also aims to portray the cooperation between these actors. This qualitative study is based upon seven semi-structured interviews with professionals within the school, social services, and the children and youth psychiatry. Room of action, cooperation, ecological system theory as well as prior research has been used to analyze the data. What the study concludes is that school attendance contributes to children’s wellbeing, and development. Furthermore, the results showed that neuropsychiatric disabilities is the primary cause of problematic school absenteeism due to a lack of sufficient support. In addition, we learn that problematic school absenteeism is perceived by all interviewees as a challenge. The thesis also unveils that effective cooperation is essential when facing the issue. However, our results prove that both internal, and external cooperation is lacking in relation to problematic school absenteeism. Thus, the study displays the importance of finding functioning work methods to combat problematic school absenteeism and reintegrate students back into the education system.

Mental health problems are associated with significant losses in work productivity and, consequently, have significant ramifications for business entities and the general economy. Several instruments have been developed to measure productivity-related constructs such as absenteeism and presenteeism. The current study examines the utility of the Outcome Questionnaire-45 (OQ), a commonly used mental health questionnaire, in predicting work productivity. This relationship is explored as a preliminary step in assessing the degree to which changes in mental health brought about by psychotherapy will improve work productivity. Forty-nine participants were recruited from a call center in a small market research firm based in the Western United States. Work productivity was measured using four subscales of the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment (WPAI) questionnaire as well as an objective measure. The OQ and WPAI were administered on a weekly basis over the course of five weeks. Participant characteristic variables and work-time variables were also measured. A mixed models analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) with repeated measures showed that the Social Role (SR) Scale, a subscale of the OQ, was a significant predictor of Presenteeism, Overall Work Impairment, and Activity Impairment subscales. Latent growth modeling (LGM) was used to examine the relationship between the variables while accounting for individual trajectory differences. Although the results suggested that an unconditional model of Overall Work Impairment with SR as a time-varying covariate provided a good fit for the data, standardized regression weights between the variables were not significant. Implications of findings, limitations, and recommendations for future research are discussed.

The aim of this study has been to describe and understand how school counselors and school social worker experience and perceive their discretion related to the work with problematic school absenteeism in elementary school. My study is based on six qualitative interviews where the professional roles each made half of the total number, which has been analyzed using qualitative content analysis. I wanted to describe and understand the discretion of school counselors and school social worker based on their role and function as that are not sufficently defined and specified, this associated with work on problematic school absenteeism. The conclusions of this study are that some of them felt limited regarding confidentiality, while some were positive about laws and guidelines. Also, that other actors within school or BUP, their working conditions and resources influenced the school counselors´and school social workers own work performance. The managers gave them freedom to shape their professional role within the organization´s framework. The possibility of resistance was also expressed. Also, that there is bigger experience of obscurity than clarity regarding the job description, which can be based on cooperation and the opportunity to take place. Collaboration and cross-border work as well affected the discretion of the professional role. School councelors and school social worker also have different opportunities in their preventive practical work to meet and manage absenteeism.

I denna studie undersöks lärares förståelse av fenomenet skolfrånvaro/skolnärvaro utifrån ramsättningarna: roll och ansvar. Då fenomenet är komplext, sammanvävt inom ömsesidiga relationella beroenden mellan elev, lärare, skola, familj, vänner, hälsa, juridik, politik, och så vidare, sker studien genom kvalitativ tematisk analys för att undersöka empirin. Semistrukturerade intervjuer har genomförts med mellan- och högstadielärare i kommunala grundskolor i en mellanstor kommun i Sverige. Intervjumaterialet har analyserats i ljuset av tidigare forskning samt med hjälp av teorier som på olika vis utgår från en systemisk förståelse. Forskningsfrågorna kunde besvaras genom studien och resultatet som följer visar att meningsskapande och förståelse för det sammantagna fenomenet polariseras av respondenterna. Frånvaro betraktas ur ett patogent perspektiv, likt något som behöver botas, och närvaro ur ett salutogent perspektiv, något som kan främjas. Implikationerna som kan följa av detta resultat är de mest intressanta produkterna från studien, vilka kan ge upphov till idéer för möjlig fortsatt forskning. / This study examines teachers' understanding of the phenomenon of school absence/attendance based on the frameworks: role and responsibility. Since the phenomenon is complex, interwoven within mutual relational dependencies between student, teacher, school, family, friends, health, law, politics, and so on, the study uses qualitative thematic analysis to examine the empirical data. Semi-structured interviews have been conducted with middle and high school teachers in municipal primary schools in a medium-sized municipality in Sweden. The interview material has been analyzed in the light of previous research and with the help of theories that in various ways are based on a systemic understanding. The research questions could be answered through the study and the results that follow show that the creation of meaning and understanding of the overall phenomenon is polarized by the respondents. Absence is considered from a pathogenic perspective, as something that needs to be cured, and presence from a salutogenic perspective, something that can be promoted. The implications that can follow from this result are the most interesting products of the study, which can give rise to ideas for possible further research.

In step with the development of society, new social phenomena develop where ”acute social withdrawl” is one of them. Acute social withdrawl is a phenomenon that is about individuals ending up in a social isolation where they withdraw from different relationships and contexts, such as school. Problematic school absenteeism is something that student health works withdaily so students don´t become acute social withdrawn. Based on previous research, we find that early coordinated interventions are significant for the preventive work towards individuals who are at risk for becoming acute social withdrawn. However, we see a knowledge gap in how this type of work should be performed. Through a qualitativ studie in the form of semistructured interviews, we interviewed six people who work actively in a student health team to gain deeper understanding of their work with early interventions. The theories we used to analyze the empirical meterial are Collaboration, Systems theory and Empowerment. Based on our study, we could see several conclusions. For example, we saw that the different interviewees had different functioning processes to draw attention to the students needs, and that collaboration with external organisations worked differently in different municipalities. This is due to the availability, resorurces and willinggness. That it´s not only being meetings and meetings without any results. Based on this, we can se that student health´s work with early coordinated interventions is limited and instead we saw that the interviewees themselves, in their professional role had to find their own 3(64)strategies. In Conclusion, we can see that a group perspective is lacking inte work, as there is a lot of individual focus.

Presenteeism is problematic since it relates to lower health and productivity. Prior research examined many work and attitudinal variables relating to presenteeism at the individual level. Here, we conceptualize presenteeism as multilevel phenomenon also shaped by the overall attendance behavior (absenteeism and presenteeism) at the work unit. We surveyed employees at a manufacturing plant on presenteeism, health-related lost productive time (HLPT) and absenteeism (N = 911, 22 units) and collected preceding (past 12–7 and 6 months) objective absence data aggregating it at unit level. Considering the individual-level antecedents only higher physical demands predicted higher absence duration. Presenteeism related positively to physical demands, a burdensome social environment, and organizational identification and negatively to ease of replacement, and core self-evaluations. These relationships were similar for HLPT as outcome. Regarding unit-level factors, preceding unit-level absence frequency (but not duration) negatively related to presenteeism. The negative relationship between core self-evaluations and individual presenteeism decreased under a stronger presenteeism context supporting the hypothesized cross-level effect of unit-level presenteeism context strength. Moreover, individual and unit-level presenteeism correlated, as expected, more strongly with health complaints than absenteeism. Our study demonstrates the value of a contextual, multilevel approach for understanding antecedents and consequences of attendance behavior.

A municipal government’s worksite exercise program was evaluated to determine its effect upon health care costs and employee absenteeism. Thirty-two employees who had participated for four and one-half years were compared to 32 nonparticipating employees. Results of this evaluation indicated that participants were significantly more often female, younger, higher paid, and in higher job classifications. No significant differences in smoking status and marital status were observed between groups. Results also revealed that participants did not use significantly fewer sick hours or health care dollars as compared to nonparticipants. However, after an initial increase in both variables the year after the program began, reductions were seen for participants in the following years. An evaluation of data prior to installation of the program showed that those joining the exercise program were not already using significantly fewer health care dollars or sick days than nonparticipants. Focus groups conducted with nonparticipants disclosed that most employees know exercise is beneficial; however, nonparticipation was largely due to a lack of time to exercise. Findings of this research suggest that health care costs and absenteeism can be reduced over time by implementing worksite exercise programs. Worksite exercise programs need to be marketed toward older, male, lower paid workers in lower job classifications since these groups tend to not join as readily as workers who are younger, female, and higher paid. / Master of Science

The return to in-person schooling post-COVID-19 pandemic has brought increased pressure on educators to ensure academic success for students. This study examines the school climate of 40 elementary and middle schools in California's Central Valley and its impact on academic performance and attendance, comparing pre-pandemic (2018-2019) with post-pandemic (2021-2022 and 2022-2023) data. Additionally, the study explores the influence of positive student-teacher relationships on academic outcomes and chronic absenteeism. Utilizing the PLUS School Climate Survey, this research sought to identify significant differences in survey scores pre- and post-pandemic, as well as examining the predictive power of student-teacher connectedness on academic performance and chronic absenteeism. This research found statistically significant differences among 6th-8th grade students regarding perceptions of school connectedness throughout the years. There was a significant increase from the 2019-2020 to 2021-2022 school years followed by a significant decrease from 2021-2022 to the 2022-2023 school year. The 2019-2020 and 2022-2023 school year data on school connectedness was not significant. Results also indicate there was a significant positive relationship between students and teachers and their academic performance. In the 2022-2012 school year, when the students had a positive view of their relationship with teachers and staff at school, the student’s ELA and math scores increased. This analysis also examined the relationship between the student’s relationship with teachers and their chronic absenteeism. There were not statistically significant results. These findings aim to provide insights for educational stakeholders to implement targeted interventions to improve school climate and enhance student success amidst post-pandemic challenges.

Problematisk skolfrånvaro är ett växande problem i många länder och har allvarliga konsekvenser för både eleven, elevens familj men också samhället på sikt. Denna studie syftar till att bidra med kunskap om skolors arbete med insatser som främjar elevers närvaro och förebygger frånvaro. För att besvara syftet genomfördes fokusgruppsintervjuer med elevhälsan på två olika skolor; en i mellersta och en i norra Sverige. Studiens resultat visar att insatserna som görs sker i samverkan inom elevhälsan men också mellan elevhälsan och vårdnadshavare, elever, pedagoger samt externa kontakter, som till exempel socialtjänst. Styrkor som identifierades i arbetet med frånvaroförebyggande och närvarofrämjande insatser inkluderar tidiga insatser, uppföljning av frånvarostatistik, samsyn, lärmiljö, ett salutogent synsätt i skolan, ett tydligt ledarskap samt en god samverkan med elev, vårdnadshavare och externa kontakter. Några hinder som identifierades är en icke fungerande samverkan med externa aktörer och vårdnadshavare, brist på samsyn mellan skolan och vårdnadshavare och mellan personalen på skolan. Utvecklingsområden som identifierades var samverkan med externa kontakter, samsyn och systematiken på skolan. För att kunna arbeta med frånvaroförebyggande och närvarofrämjande insatser nämns tid och samsyn som viktiga förutsättningar. I studien dras slutsatsen att det är av stor vikt hur skolan organiserar sina insatser, där ett aktivt ledarskap på olika nivåer med tydliga förväntningar på personalen kan bidra till ett framgångsrikt arbetssätt. Ett “tillsammansarbete” nämns även som betydelsefullt där det är viktigt med samsyn och samverkan mellan personalen på skolan, mellan elevhälsa och vårdnadshavare, samt mellan elevhälsa och externa kontakter. / Problematic school absenteeism is a growing problem in many countries and can have serious consequences for the student, the student's family, and society in the long run. This study aims to contribute to the existing body of knowledge on how schools work with initiatives that promote student attendance and prevent absenteeism. To collect data, focus group interviews were conducted with student health services at two different schools: one in central and one in northern Sweden. The results of the study show that interventions are carried out in collaboration within the student health service, as well as between the student health services and guardians, students, educators, and external contacts, such as social services. The strengths identified in the work to promote attendance and prevent absenteeism include early interventions, shared perspectives, following up on absentee statistics, the school’s learning environment, a salutogenic approach in the school, clear leadership, and good collaboration with students, guardians, and external contacts. Obstacles identified include non-functioning collaboration with external agencies and guardians and a lack of shared perspectives by the school and guardians, and among the school staff. Developmental areas identified include collaboration, shared perspectives, and the systematics within the school. To be able to work with absenteeism prevention and attendance-promoting efforts, time and shared perspectives are mentioned as important prerequisites. The study concludes that active leadership at various levels with clear expectations for staff is essential. Additionally, it is important to have a shared perspective and collaboration among school staff, between student health services and guardians, and between student health services and external contacts.

Barnens framtida utveckling formas till stor del av skolan och påverkas av dess omgivningsfaktorer. Om eleven inte kommer till skolan och deltar i undervisningen kan det leda till konsekvenser. Syftet med studien var att undersöka upplevelser av problematisk skolfrånvaro bland skolpersonal och elever samt att diskutera kring arbetsterapeutisk kompetens för denna problematik. Urvalet resulterade i nio artiklar med kvalitativ ansats där skolpersonals- och/eller elevers upplevelser presenterades. Artiklarna analyserades med inspiration av kvalitativ innehållsanalys där resultatet delades in underkategorier som sedan fick tre huvudkategorier – 1) Orsaker till skolfrånvaro, 2) Resurstillgångar i skolmiljö vid skolfrånvaro, 3) Brister i skolmiljön. Resultatet visade att skolfrånvaroproblemen orsakades av att elever kände sig otrygga, rädda och pressade i skolmiljön. Skolpersonal och elever hade olika uppfattningar om huruvida tillgångar och resurser tillhandahållits. I diskussionen sammankopplas den inhämtade forskningen med arbetsterapi och hur kompetensen att se människan ur ett aktivitetsperspektiv kan användas i skolmiljön för att främja delaktighet. Slutsatsen indikerar att forskning och implementering av arbetsterapeutisk kompetens i skolmiljön kan vara av vikt för skolpersonal och elever kopplat till problematisk skolfrånvaro.