Employees who develop and report nontraumatic acute low back pain that occurs while performing work duties, or shortly thereafter, are classified as having occupational isolated acute low back pain (OIALBP). The purpose of this project was to identify and implement an evidence- based time frame to refer occupational isolated acute low back pain patients (OIALBPPs) to physical therapy (PT) that returns them to full duty work (FDW) more quickly. The diffusion of innovation theory aided the project leader and health care providers to develop strategies to overcome barriers in implementing the project's results into the practice. A total of 932 medical records of OIALBPPs who presented to the organization from 2009 through 2015 were retrieved and abstracted by the organization's occupational health providers. The project leader analyzed the data and identified the best time frame to refer their OIALBPPs to PT. A t test, Chi-square, and an Analysis of Variance were used in the data analysis. The results were employed to design and construct tables in Excel. Early PT is defined as a PT initial evaluation that occurs < 10 days after back pain onset. A significant (p < 0.001) difference of 13.5 days between early and delayed PT groups was identified. Significant differences persisted when evaluated by sex, age bracket, occupational group, and incidence of failure to return to FDW. In conclusion, OIALBPPs who receive early PT return to FDW nearly 2 weeks sooner than do those who delay PT. Early PT may reduce health care cost, reduce lost employee income, increase productivity, increase company revenue, and lower insurance costs. Referring OIALBPPs to PT early may lower the economic burden placed on health care budgets and society as a whole.

Absenteeism has a negative impact on organizational output in the form of lost productivity and profit reduction for software engineering companies. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive case study was to explore the strategies that software engineering managers utilize for reducing absenteeism. The theory of planned behavior formed the conceptual framework for this study. Data were collected through semistructured interviews from a purposeful sample of 11 managers at an international custom software engineering company. Data collection also included organizational data on employee absences for the past 5 years (2011-2015), e-mail memos, newsletters, employee handbook, and employee performance reviews. Based on methodological triangulation of the data sources and inductive analysis of the data, 4 themes emerged. Emergent themes from the analysis revealed that communication was key to reducing absenteeism, flexible work hours and working from home reduced absence, comradery and employee support positively impacted absenteeism, and that there was a lack of a clear and formal processes for addressing employee absenteeism. These findings suggest that, at this company, an absenteeism reduction strategy could help reduce employee absenteeism to lessen the negative impact on organizational productivity and profitability. These findings may contribute to social change by providing a template for effective absenteeism reduction strategies that managers can use to promote a decreased incidence of absenteeism, organizational profitability, reduction of the unemployment rate, employee stress, and mental health problems.

<p>As the number one cause of sick absenteeism and disability pension, musculoskeletal pain is considered a major health problem in Sweden and many other industrialized countries. Medical findings are often insufficient to explain the pain’s intensity or duration, and psychological factors are known to be important in understanding the aetiology and maintenance of pain. The current thesis examines the relationship between non-specific chronic musculoskeletal pain and cognitions, emotions and behaviours. In Study I, chronic pain patients were interviewed about pain experiences and the results indicated that some patients use psychological defences to deal with chronic pain. Study II was an experimental approach set up to study the association between chronic pain and selective memory. In a pictorial memory game, no differences were found between patients and controls in the neutral game. In the pain-related game patients decreased – and controls improved – their performance, a finding discussed in terms of cognitive avoidance. Study III used questionnaire and register data to examine the predictive value of psychosocial variables on sustained pain-related sick absenteeism and the results showed sense of mastery and recovery beliefs to be especially important. The studies are discussed in terms of emotional and defensive coping and it is suggested that defences can be related to excessive activity, which may increase the risk of future relapses. It was suggested that an increased acceptance of pain, at both an individual and a societal level – would favour rehabilitation and return-to-work for those suffering from persistent pain.</p>

Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

As the number one cause of sick absenteeism and disability pension, musculoskeletal pain is considered a major health problem in Sweden and many other industrialized countries. Medical findings are often insufficient to explain the pain’s intensity or duration, and psychological factors are known to be important in understanding the aetiology and maintenance of pain. The current thesis examines the relationship between non-specific chronic musculoskeletal pain and cognitions, emotions and behaviours. In Study I, chronic pain patients were interviewed about pain experiences and the results indicated that some patients use psychological defences to deal with chronic pain. Study II was an experimental approach set up to study the association between chronic pain and selective memory. In a pictorial memory game, no differences were found between patients and controls in the neutral game. In the pain-related game patients decreased – and controls improved – their performance, a finding discussed in terms of cognitive avoidance. Study III used questionnaire and register data to examine the predictive value of psychosocial variables on sustained pain-related sick absenteeism and the results showed sense of mastery and recovery beliefs to be especially important. The studies are discussed in terms of emotional and defensive coping and it is suggested that defences can be related to excessive activity, which may increase the risk of future relapses. It was suggested that an increased acceptance of pain, at both an individual and a societal level – would favour rehabilitation and return-to-work for those suffering from persistent pain.

M. Tech. Business Administration / The objective of this study was to identify factors that are responsible for employee absenteeism in Vodacom SA, which is the largest mobile cell phone company in South Africa. In the literature, it has been extensively reported that absenteeism is a major cause of loss of income and revenues among mobile cell phone operators in South Africa. The purpose of this study was to identify the root causes of absenteeism in the cellular phone industry in South Africa. Data was collected from a random sample of 120 employees of Vodacom SA working in Midrand.

Sibling caretaking, although common across time and cultures, has not been well researched from the carer’s point of view. In Nicaragua, ranked as one of the poorest countries in the Americas, sibling caretaking is common. The country’s historical background and its state of chronic poverty, widespread unemployment, loose family structures, and migration and mobility makes of the old practise of shared management child care a necessity. Households headed by sing¬le mothers constitute a particular Nica¬raguan charact¬eristic. Many children are expected to help in their own families and care for their siblings and other children living in their households. In its broadest sense sibling caretaking is a public health concern, and we conducted this study to widen the understanding of the phenomenon as it is represented in a setting undergoing a rapid social transition. The main objectives were to identify, describe and analyse the life situation of sibling caretakers in poor areas in León, Nicaragua, with focus on how they perceived it themselves. A combined qualitative and quantitative methodological design was used, mainly applying an ethnographic approach. A further ambition was to explore involvement of children in a participatory research process in accordance with the ‘Convention on the Rights of the Child’. The overall emotion expressed among the caretakers was pride, even if their situation often was characterized by stress and coping problems. They perceived their work as important for their families and they appreciated to fend for their siblings. Household work and nurturing of siblings were shaping the future lives of the caretakers and constituted part of their socialization. Even if many of these children achieve essential life skills as caretakers, they are at risk of falling behind as they grow older. Their long-term personal development is likely to be hampered by the obligations they have as caretakers. The carers' awareness of missing out on education was the most problematic issue for them. From a societal point of view, caretaking has negative consequences. The individual child is marginalised with limited access to basic education, contributing to overall low educational levels in Nicaragua. While the structuring conditions leading to sibling caretaking may be difficult to change, awareness of how these can affect children might make way for improvements in terms of access to school education and support from the society. The knowledge gained from this study should be further utilised to plan for interventions that take children’s perspectives into consideration.

AIM The purpose of this study was to investigate factors that may have contributed to absenteeism among bursary students undertaking a four-year Nursing Diploma course (R425), and the extent to which these factors impacted on students’ absenteeism at a selected nursing campus in KwaZulu-Natal. METHODOLOGY The study adopted a quantitative approach, utilizing a non –experimental descriptive design. Data were collected by means of self-administered questionnaires consisting of closed and open-ended questions. Data analyses were done using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 21(SPSS- 21). One hundred and twenty-six bursary students from the first year to the third year of training participated in the study. FINDINGS The study revealed that absenteeism at the nursing campus under study existed at all levels of student training, and that it occurred more in the clinical area than in the college area. Clinical factors identified included escorting very ill patients without indemnity, working late shifts (19h00) before a day off, allocation to one work area without rotation, and a lack of appreciation for a job well done and criticism. College factors such as stipend, transport problems, and lecturers and their teaching methods did not have any impact on student absenteeism. / M.N. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 2013.

Higher educational institutions no longer provide the low-stress and highly satisfying working environment they once did. Higher educational institutions experience significant changes, which include restructuring, reduction of state subsidy and use of short-term contracts. Therefore, the changes in the higher educational environment can have costly implications for institutions in terms of staff morale, turnover and absenteeism rates and could also lead to reduced employee performance, poor quality control and a fall in production. It therefore becomes increasingly important for higher educational institutions to intervene to reduce the occupational stress of university staff. The objectives of this study were to determine the occupational stressors for support staff at a higher education institution in the North West Province, to investigate the relationship between occupational stress, ill health, organisational commitment and important organisational outcomes (including absenteeism, productivity and turnover intention) and to assess the financial implications of these factors in a sample of support staff at a higher education institution in the North West Province. A cross-sectional survey design was used. The study population consisted of support staff at a higher education institution in the North West Province (N = 292). An Organisational Screening Tool (ASSET) and a biographical questionnaire were administered. Descriptive statistics, Pearson and Spearman correlations, multiple regression analyses and discriminant analysis were used to analyse the results. The results showed that, compared to normative data, support staff overall demonstrated average levels of occupational stress. However, job control, resources, communication and work relationships were found to be problematic stressors which mainly influenced organisational commitment to the organisation. The prediction of losses suffered by the higher educational institution due to absenteeism, presenteeism and turnover intention indicate that occupational stress cost organisations greatly. Recommendations were made for the organisation and for future research. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka relationen mellan ogiltig skolfrånvaro och grad av psykologiska, emotionella och sociala resurser. Vi undersökte både hemmasittande ungdomar (N = 13) och normalpopulation (N = 235) i två delstudier med en enkätbaserad tvärsnittsdesign. Resultatet visade att hemmasittande ungdomar upplevde mycket låg grad av psykologiska resurser. Resultaten visade även att graden av ogiltig skolfrånvaro hängde samman med graden av psykologiska resurser. Ogiltig skolfrånvaro hängde även till viss del samman med sociala och emotionella resurser. Ogiltigt skolfrånvarande ungdomar använde sig i lägre grad av adaptiv emotionsreglering och upplevde lägre socialt stöd från lärare. Vidare forskning behövs för att bekräfta resursernas betydelse. / The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between unauthorized absence from school and psychological, emotional and social resources. We examined two samples, one consisting of students with complete school absence (N = 13) and one population based reference group (N = 235), using a questionnaire based cross-sectional research design. Results showed that students with complete school absence experience a very low level of psychological resources. Results also showed that unauthorized absence from school was related to level of psychological resources. Unauthorized absence from school was also partly related to social and emotional resources. Students with unauthorized absence from school used adaptive emotional regulation strategies to a lesser extent, and experienced a lower level of social support from teachers. Further research is required to confirm the relevance of the psychological, emotional, and social resources.