Under tjugohundratalets första decennier har det kunnat konstateras ett ökande av antal svenskar som sjukskrivs på grund av psykisk ohälsa. Vilka slags lärdomar upplever personerna att de tillägnat sig efter att ha varit sjukskrivna? Hur kan drivkrafter identifieras i personernas berättelser? Och vilka betydelser har samspelet med omgivningen haft för personerna vid återgång i arbete? Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka personers upplevelser om lärande efter en sjukskrivning till följd av arbetsrelaterad psykisk ohälsa. Studien är kvalitativ och bygger på åtta intervjuer av personer med egen erfarenhet av sjukskrivning. Dessa intervjuer har sedan analyserats med hjälp av Illeris tre lärandedimensioner samt delvis av Mezirovs transformativa lärande. Resultat och slutsats visar att det sker lärande efter en sjukskrivning där lärdomen varit ökad självkännedom, där drivkraften varit att åter komma in i ett sammanhang och där omgivningens bemötande och stöd haft stor betydelse. / During the first decades of the twentyfirst century, an increase in the number of Swedes reported on sick leave due to suffering from mental illness has been noted. What kind of learning do people experience after being on sick leave? How can driving forces be identified in their stories? And what meanings have the interaction with the environment had for people when returning to work? The purpose of this paper is to investigate people's experiences of learning after a sick leave due to work-related mental illness. The study is qualitative and based on eight interviews of individuals with own experience of sick leave. These interviews have then been analyzed using Illeris’ three learning dimensions and partly by Mezirov's9 transformative learning. The result and conclusion show that learning takes place after a sick leave where learning gave increased self-awareness, where the driving force was to be able to re-enter a context and where the receivement and support from the environment was of major importance.

Youth unemployment is an increasing burden on societies around the world. This prospective, register-based cohort study examined the relationship between unemployment and sickness absence, disability pension, death and future unemployment among youth in Sweden. A comparison was also made between immigrants and native Swedes. Another aim was to see if Active Labour Market Programs (ALMPs) and attained education moderated the outcomes. The baseline year was 1992, a year of severe economic downturn. The follow-up period was from 1993 to 2007, divided into three 5-year periods. The study group of 199,623 individuals comprised all immigrants born between 1968 and 1972 who immigrated before 1990 (25,607) and a random sample of native Swedes in the same age range (174,016). Individuals with unemployment benefit in 1990-1991, disability pension in 1990-1992 or severe disorders leading to hospitalization in 1990-1992 were excluded in order to minimize selection bias. Those who were unemployed in 1992 had elevated risk, measured as odds ratios, of ≥60 days of sickness absence, disability pension, ≥100 days of unemployment and all, except native Swedish women, had elevated risk of death during follow-up. The risk of future unemployment declined until the last follow-up period, while the elevated risk of future sickness absence was about the same in all three follow-up periods. Higher level of education at baseline decreased the risk of future unemployment. Individuals participating in ALMPs had an increased risk of future unemployment, and immigrant women had an increased risk of sickness absence, compared to non-participating individuals. Attained education between 1993 and 1997 decreased the risk of future unemployment and decreased the risk of sickness absence among immigrants. The risk of both future unemployment and future sickness absence increased with the length of unemployment in 1992. Immigrants had higher risk of unemployment both at baseline and follow-up compared with native Swedes, but followed the pattern of native Swedes when unemployed. The conclusion are that exposure to unemployment are associated with elevated risk of future unemployment, sickness absence, disability pension and death fifteen years after exposure. To a society this will mean substantial costs in the form of increased welfare payments and loss of productivity and tax income. Selection to unemployment by individuals already sick, may explain part of the association between unemployment and the studied outcomes.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate and analyse the employers legal right to demand a medical certificate from an employee from the very first day in a leave of absence due to illness. Further the paper will investigate the possible consequences and repercussions that an employee faces if he or she is not willing or able to procure a medical certificate by the demand of an employer. A minor comparative study about work security during illness and sick leave in Sweden and Denmark will be carried out and analysed. To gain a broader perspective on sick leave a gender perspective will be analysed as well. The paper is largely based on a doctrinal method of traditional legal analysis. Due to the change in legislation regarding sick pay paid by employer in 2008 all employers without collective agreements gained the right to demand a medical certificate from an employee. Reasons behind the requests can vary from an early start in rehabilitation to the suspicion of unrightfully use of sick pay. The general rule in Sweden unlike Denmark is that you cannot be dismissed due to illness, and there are comprehensive obligations for an employer to partake in the rehabilitation and return to work for an employee. Permanent reduced capacity for work or lack of cooperation in the rehabilitation process by the employee stipulates exceptions for dismissal due to illness. By not procuring a medical certificate an employee could consequently face dismissal.

The research problem in this study was to identify best practices for the contingency management of health-related absenteeism. To achieve this goal, the following actions were taken: A literature study was conducted to identify the scope and impact of health-related absenteeism on organisations and the legal parameters within which health-related absenteeism should be managed. A literature study was also conducted to identify strategies to prevent and reduce health-related absenteeism and strategies to ensure the continuous provision of products and services in periods of high absenteeism. The theoretical study focused on the management of absenteeism, wellness, ill-health/mental problems and HIV/AIDS, as well as contingency strategies aimed at maintaining production and service provision. iii The findings from the literature study were integrated into a model of best practices for the contingency management of health-related absenteeism. This model was used as a basis for the development of a survey questionnaire to determine whether senior human resources practitioners, occupational health practitioners or line managers, who were responsible for the management of health-related absenteeism in organisations, agreed with the best practice guidelines developed in the study. The survey was conducted in the motor and motor component industry in the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality and Buffalo City Metropole. The empirical results from the study showed a strong concurrence with the best practices guidelines developed in the study, with the exception of the strategies aimed at maintaining undisrupted production and service provision during periods of high absenteeism. In particular, disagreement was shown with regard to alternative work arrangements such as flexible work-hours, a compressed workweek, telecommuting and job-sharing. Absenteeism, in general, is an issue that organisations are challenged with on a daily basis. The proliferation of various diseases, specifically HIV/AIDS, is contributing to this problem. An integrated and strategic approach is required to deal effectively and constructively with the immediate and expected future impact of health-related issues on absenteeism. Organisations could use the best practices guidelines, identified in this study, as a mechanism to benchmark how well they manage health-related absenteeism

M.Cur. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Please read the abstract (Synopsis) in the section 00front of this document / Dissertation (MA (Human Movement Studies))--University of Pretoria, 2001. / Biokinetics, Sport and Leisure Sciences / unrestricted

Bakgrund.Ländryggssmärta förekommer hos piloter och kan eventuellt vara en anledning till framtida långtidssjukskrivningar. Möjliga påverkande faktorer är antal yrkesverksamma år och träningsvanor. Det finns få antal studier gjorda på kommersiellt flygande piloter.  Syfte.Att kartlägga förekomsten av ländryggssmärta hos piloter inom kommersiell luftfart samt undersöka risken för långtidssjukskrivning. Vidare kartlägga skillnader i förekomst av ländryggssmärta hos piloter som arbetat <10 respektive >10 år samt att undersöka sambandet mellan ländryggssmärta och självskattad träningsvana. Metod.En tvärsnittsstudie genomfördes med webbenkät. Enkäten bestod av ett antal inledande egendesignade frågor och därefter följde Örebroformuläret kortversion av Steven Linton. Resultat.Antalet deltagare i studien var 73 respondenter vilket motsvarar en svarsfrekvens på 30 %. Totalt 57.5 % av de 73 respondenterna angav sig ha ländryggssmärta, av dessa hade majoriteten besvärats av smärtan i över ett år. Resultaten visade på att de piloter som hade ländryggssmärta inte hade en ökad risk för långtidssjukskrivning men att det fanns en skillnad i förekomst av ländryggssmärta hos de som arbetat över respektive under tio år (p=0.017). Korrelationen mellan träningsvanor och förekomst av ländryggssmärta var inte statistiskt signifikanta (r=0.03), (p=0.80). Konklusion.Prevalensen av ospecifik ländryggssmärta hos kommersiellt flygande piloter var hög och föreföll att öka med antalet yrkesverksamma år. Ytterligare forskning behöver undersöka vilka faktorer som bidrar till den höga förekomsten av ospecifik ländryggssmärta. / Background.Low back pain is common among commercial flying pilots and may possibly be a reason for future long- term sick leave. Possible influencing factors are the number of working years and exercise habits. There are few studies researching commercial flying pilots. Purpose.To describe the prevalence of low back pain among commercial flying pilots and to investigate the risk of long- term sick leave. Furthermore, identify differences in the incidence of low back pain among pilots who has worked <10 compared to >10 years, as well as to investigate the correlation between low back pain and self-assessed exercise habits. Method.A cross-sectional study was conducted with a web survey. The survey initially consisted of self-designed questions followed by “Örebroformuläret kortversion” by Steven Linton. Results.The study contained 73 respondents, which corresponded to a response rate of 30%. A total of 57.5% of the 73 respondents indicated that they had low back pain, of which the majority had been suffering for over a year.  The results showed that the pilots who had low back pain had no risk of long-term sick leave. There was a difference in the incidence of low back pain in those who worked over compared to under ten years (p=0.017). The correlation between exercise habits and the incidence of low back pain was not statistically significant (r=0.03), (p=0.08). Conclusion.The prevalence of nonspecific low back pain in commercial flying pilots was high and seemed to increase with the number of working years. Further research needs to investigate which factors contribute to the high incidence of nonspecific low back pain.

MPM / Oliver Tambo Institute for Governance and Policy Studies

Stressrelaterad psykisk ohälsa har blivit en allt vanligare orsak till sjukskrivningar, särskilt inom människovårdande yrken som socialt arbete. Denna kandidatuppsats undersöker socionomers erfarenhet av en stressrelaterad sjukskrivning Genom kvalitativa intervjuer med sju socionomer som varit sjukskrivna för stress, fångas deras personliga berättelser och erfarenheter med fokus på stresshantering och lärdomar från sjukskrivningen. Studien visar att både individuella egenskaper och arbetsmiljö spelar en stor roll i hur stress hanteras och upplevs. En gemensam upplevelse var att de behövde lära sig nya sätt att hantera stress och sänka sina egna krav för att uppnå en mer hållbar yrkesroll. / Stress-related health issues have become increasingly common, especially in caregiving professions such as social work. This Bachelor´s thesis examines social workers experiences of stress-related sick leave. Through qualitative interviews with seven social workers, who have been on sick leave due to stress, their personal stories and experiences have been captured with a focus on Stress Management and learning from a sick leave. The study shows that both individual characteristics and work environment play a significant role in how stress is managed and perceived. A common experience was the need to learn new ways to cope with stress and set lower personal expectations.

In the three chapters of my dissertation, I analyze the individual behaviors including health (vaccination and preventive care) and consumer (financial literacy) behaviors and the corresponding interventions by nonlinear econometric modeling. In the first chapter, I suggest an appropriate econometric model that investigates the effect of paid sick leave on workers' decision to receive the seasonal flu vaccination. For this investigation, I apply a Bayesian non-linear structural regression model with one-outcome and two-endogenous equations. The results of my estimation indicate that having paid sick leave affects workers' vaccination decisions differently based on their income levels. Low-income workers are willing to be vaccinated because they perceive the high cost of claiming paid sick leave. However, high-income workers are willing to be vaccinated because paid sick leave reduces the cost of vaccination for seasonal flu. In the second chapter, I suggest new econometric regression models that investigate the effect of "Don't Know" or "Refuse" (DK/RF) responses on parameter identification. I estimate the effect of group characteristics and financial education on the level of young respondents' objective financial knowledge and find the actual effects and biases by my suggested models. This study examines six questions about personal finance and selects covariates in the 2015 National Financial Capability Study (NFCS). Because these questions include DK/RF responses, a simple regression model that does not consider DK/RF responses could lead to misleading conclusions, such as gender/income difference and educational effectiveness in schools. In the last chapter, I investigate the effect of three health-related interventions including a doctor's recommendation, information about human papillomavirus (HPV), and HPV vaccination, on the misuse of cervical cancer screening including too-early screening, unnecessary HPV test, annual Pap test, and no Pap smear that are not recommended for women younger than 30 years. I examine the National Health Interview Survey conducted in 2015 and applies binary and multinomial logistic regression models. From the estimation result, I observe that doctor's recommendation plays a significant role in increasing the probability of receiving cervical cancer screening while it induces the too-early screening, unnecessary HPV testing, and overuse of Pap smears. / Ph. D. / In the three chapters of my dissertation, I analyze the individual behaviors including health (vaccination and preventive care) and consumer (financial literacy) behaviors and the corresponding interventions. In the first chapter, I investigate the effect of paid sick leave on workers' decision to receive the seasonal flu vaccination. From this investigation, I observe that low-income workers are willing to be vaccinated because they perceive the high cost of claiming paid sick leave while high-income workers are willing to be vaccinated because paid sick leave reduces the cost of vaccination for seasonal flu. In the second chapter, I investigate the effect of Don't Know or Refuse (DK/RF) responses that are commonly ignored in many studies. From this investigation, I observe the disadvantage of rejecting financial education offers in obtaining proper financial knowledge and the ineffectiveness of formal and informal financial education on the level of objective financial knowledge. In addition, I observe few or no gender, income, and age differences in the level of objective financial knowledge among young adults. In the last chapter, I investigate the effect of a doctor's recommendation, information about human papillomavirus (HPV), and HPV vaccination on the too-early screening, unnecessary HPV test, annual Pap test, and no Pap smear that are not recommended for women younger than 30 years. From this investigation, I observe that doctor's recommendation plays a significant role in increasing the probability of receiving cervical cancer screening while it induces the too-early screening, unnecessary HPV testing, and overuse of Pap smears.