Relationships Between Commuting and Social Capital Among Men and Women in Southern Sweden.

The societal need for a mobile workforce increases time spent commuting and thus also the total workday. How this affects individual well-being and social life is, however, surprisingly little known. We investigated the relation between commuting time and mode, and social participation and general trust in other people as measures of social capital, using data from public health surveys conducted in 2004 and 2008 in Scania, Sweden: in all, 21,088 persons ages 18 to 65 and working at least 30 hr per week. Commuting by car was significantly associated with a higher prevalence of low social participation and low general trust compared with active commuting, and the association increased with the duration of commuting time. In contrast, public commuting was not significantly associated with decreased social capital measures except among long-duration commuters, who reported lower social participation. The overall pattern was similar for men and for women

Rasch Analysis of the Norwegian Version of the Occupational Balance Questionnaire in a Sample of Occupational Therapy Students

Background. Recently, the Occupational Balance Questionnaire developed in Sweden was translated into Norwegian. No studies to date have examined the measurement properties of the Norwegian version of this questionnaire. Aim. The study is aimed at examining the psychometric properties of the Norwegian version of the Occupational Balance Questionnaire, the OBQ11-N. Methods. Along with sociodemographic data, 180 occupational therapy students enrolled at two Norwegian universities completed the OBQ11-N as well as one question each related to health and quality of life and some sociodemographic variables. Rasch analysis was employed for examining rating scale functioning, item and person validity, dimensionality, and differential item functioning. Results. Item categories were ordered, but there were potential gaps in the measurement of the construct. Person reliability was fair, whereas item reliability was low. Point biserial correlations were positive, indicating that all items contributed to the construct. Factor loadings were low for two items, and there were indices of a second underlying dimension and item redundancy. Many people were not aligned with the items, and some items functioned differently across various demographic variables. Conclusion and Significance. The OBQ11-N did not function as an adequate measure of occupational balance in a sample of students. Potentially, the detected measurement problems may be solved by adding more relevant items to a larger item pool, from which the best fitting items should be selected

Experience of meaning in everyday occupations among unemployed people with severe mental illness.

Abstract The aim of this qualitative study was to examine the different facets of meaning that people who are severely mentally ill and unemployed may find in their everyday occupations. Twelve unemployed people with severe mental illness, six who attended day centres and six who did not, were interviewed regarding their experience of meaning in everyday occupations. The data were analysed with content analysis. The results showed that meaning was experienced when feeling competent and having a balance between different meaningful occupations that helped the informants control their mental illness. Themes of meaning were: being socially engaged, feeling competent and accepted by society, creating routines and being productive, being creative and seeking knowledge, and taking care of body and mind. Substitutes for paid work were found in occupations such as taking care of the household or being productive at a day centre. The results suggest that people with severe mental illness should be encouraged to play an active role in their rehabilitation process, and receive support from the occupational therapist in addressing aspects such as forming a social network and daily routines, and finding a balance between work-like occupations and rest

Engagement in occupations of everyday life among women of working age. Indicators of health and stress

The overall aim of the present thesis was to gain further understanding and knowledge about engagement in occupations of everyday life among women of working age and to identify indicators of health and stress. Included in the studies were women representing two general populations in Sweden, women who were on long-term sick leave and women with stress-related disorders, all aged 30-61 years. Statistical analyses as well as a qualitative analysis were performed. Most of the studied women in the general populations were gainfully employed and most of them were not on sick leave, at least not at the time they were studied. However, not more than about half of them experienced good health and about as many perceived stress. The main results showed that the most appreciated occupational roles among the women were the roles as a worker, a home maintainer, and a family member. When women s engagement in all the occupations of everyday life was studied it seemed as if a combination of a self-image that was characterised by awareness and respect for one s own values, needs, and resources, having strategies to manage and control everyday life, experience of occupational balance and occupations in everyday life as personally meaningful led to balance in everyday life and well-being. The environment also seemed to influence women s experience of balance in everyday life.The occupation-related indicators of health among the women were high well-being concerning work, a balance between engagement in the occupations of everyday life and resources, occupations perceived as personally meaningful, and an experience of occupational balance. A high sense of coherence was also found to be an indicator of health among the women. The main occupation-related indicator of stress among the women was low manageability of occupations of everyday life. Other occupation-related indicators of stress were the experiences of low occupational balance, and low personal meaning in occupations. The result of the present thesis provides occupation-related indicators of health and stress that can be used to develop occupation-based strategies to promote health and prevent sick leave, which these findings really underline the need of

Occupational balance from the interpersonal perspective : A scoping review

Background: Occupational balance is an important concept in occupational science but it has mostly been studied from an individual rather than an interpersonal perspective, i.e. the extent to which one individual’s occupational balance affects and is affected by others. The aim of this review was to describe the extent to which occupational balance has been recently considered from an interpersonal perspective. Methods: A scoping review methodology was used. Articles published between 2014 and 2017 that met the following inclusion criteria were included: full articles reporting primary research; published in English; using “occupational balance”, “balance in everyday life”, or “life balance” in the abstract, key words, or title; having an occupational focus on balance; and providing relevant information in relation to the interpersonal perspective. Results: Nine articles were included. The interpersonal perspective was mostly seen in relation to partners or families, showing the positive impact of support and the negative impact of meeting other’s needs in mothers. One article addressed aspects related to organizations and attitudes at the workplace in parents with young children. Conclusion: The findings reveal the importance of considering the occupational balance of both the individual and those around him or her while also showing some of the complexity of occupational balance. The limited number of articles identified indicates that there is still a lack of research using an interpersonal perspective, suggesting that further examination of the interpersonal influence on occupational balance may be a fruitful avenue to pursue

Introducing the Occupational Balance Questionnaire (OBQ)

Objective: The concept of occupational balance is frequently used in occupational therapy but the fact that it has been defined and measured differently is a limitation. This article introduces the Occupational Balance Questionnaire (OBQ), which focuses on satisfaction with the amount and variation of occupations. It consists of 13 items measured on six-step ordinal scales. It has shown good content validity in a sample of 21 occupational therapists but other psychometric properties have not been investigated. The aim was to investigate the OBQ regarding internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and floor/ceiling effects. Methods: The OBQ was administered twice to a sample selected through convenience sampling. Internal consistency was investigated by Cronbach's alpha and test-retest reliability analysed with Spearman's Rho correlation for the total score and weighted kappa on each item. Potential floor/ceiling effects were explored by checking for the percentage of participants who scored lowest and highest. Results: The results demonstrated that the OBQ has good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha 0.936) and sufficient test-retest reliability (Spearman's Rho for the total score was 0.926) and, thus, seems stable over time. No floor or ceiling effect was detected. Conclusions: The OBQ therefore showed promising reliability, although further instrument development studies to examine its construct validity are required

Perceptions of and interactions with green neighbourhood environment–A qualitative study

Background: Green environments have been shown to be important for health, although less is known about what, in the environment and the individual, leads to interaction and promotes engagement in activities. Aim: To explore some individuals’ perceptions of their green neighbourhood environment and how the interaction with it promotes engagement in activities. Material and methods: A qualitative approach was used comprising eight semi-structured interviews and directed content analysis based on the Model of Human Occupation. Results: The green neigbourhood environment (GNE) offered opportunities to challenge the participants’ performance capacity, develop habits and engage in activities. The GNE also gave stress relief and helped the participants experience balance. Experiences of interacting with green environments earlier in life and the cultural context seemed to be the main reason why the participants interacted with the GNE. Conclusions and significance: Norms and values from the childhood, previous experiences and interests were of particular importance for interaction with the GNE. Green environments gave perspective, a sense of being part of something larger and helped individuals achieve balance. Based on this knowledge, occupational therapists can enable individuals to interact with the green environment