Arbetsengagemang i det nya arbetslivet

I takt med den växande digitaliseringen förändras förutsättningarna för arbetslivet och medarbetare ställer nya krav på sina arbetsgivare. Arbetet med Performance Management behöver förnyas för att möta framtidens behov. För att öka förståelsen för vad som får medarbetare att bli engagerade i sitt arbete, granskades IKEA och deras mål- och utvecklingsprocess. En elektronisk enkät skickades ut till cirka 500 medarbetare på två av IKEAs varuhus, varav 64 personer svarade. Enkäten undersökte hur engagerade medarbetarna är i sitt arbete i förhållande till hur de upplever mål- och utvecklingsprocessen. Resultatet visade att respondenterna upplever mål- och utvecklingsprocessen som engagerande och att hela processen till viss del korrelerar med hur engagerade de är i arbetet. Resultatet visar även att respondenterna önskar att de olika delarna av processen görs oftare. För vidare utveckling av IKEAs mål- och utvecklingsprocess rekommenderas att den blir mer levande och en del av det föränderliga arbetslivet. Det här indikerar på att företag i den digitala tidsåldern borde låta sina medarbetare kontinuerligt arbeta med en utvecklingsplan och lika ofta få feedback på sitt arbete. En sådan utveckling kan leda till mer engagerade medarbetare som presterar bättre i sitt arbete.In pace with the growing digitalization, the conditions for worklife and coworkers are in continuous change, which in turn changes the demands on the employees. The work with Performance Management needs to be updated to meet the requirements of the future. The purpose with this study is to achieve better understanding what makes coworkers engaged in their work in order to increase their performance. IKEA and their current work process with Performance Management was used as an investigative example to understand what makes coworkers engaged in their work. An electronic survey was sent out to about 500 coworkers from two of IKEAs stores, of which 64 of them answered. The survey investigated the coworkers overall work engagement in relation to how they experienced the Performance & Development process. The result showed that the respondents experienced the Performance & Development process as engaging and it partly correlates with their work engagement. The result also showed that the respondents wish the different parts of the process to be done more often. To develop the process furthermore it is recommended to be more developed and a part of the changing worklife. This means that companies in the digitalized age should let their coworkers continuously work with a development plan and continuously perceive feedback on their work. This could lead to more engaged coworkers that perform better in their work

Co-Creation of a Working Model to Improve Sexual Health for Persons Living with Rheumatological Diseases

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial International License (CC BY-NC 4.0)Background: Sexual health needs are insufficiently met for persons living with rheumatological diseases and it is necessary to create better ways to meet these needs. Objective: To co-create a working model to improve sexual health for persons living with rheumatological diseases, that can be used by rheumatological teams in regular rheumatology practice. Design: This study applied a co-creation design with three key features: 1) it took a systems perspective with emergent multiple interactive entities; 2) the research process was viewed as a creative endeavour with strong links to design, while human imagination and the individual experience of patient and staff were at the core of the creative design effort; 3) the process of the co-creative efforts was as important as the generated product. Results: A model defining the role of the patient, the professionals, and the team in optimizing sexual health for persons living with rheumatological diseases was co-created. The model can be seen as a practice guideline, which includes the support needed from and to each participant in the process of promoting sexual health, while being within the professional scope of the professionals’ knowledge and capacity, and in line with the needs of the persons living with rheumatological diseases. Discussion and Conclusions: The co-creative work process identified crucial factors in promoting sexual health, resulting in a useful model for patients, professionals and teams. Co-creation was experienced to be a useful research design to improve rheumatological care, through valuing and using the competence of all research members equally.The study was funded by the Medical Research Council of Southeast Sweden, grant number FORSS701251.publishedVersio

Educational readiness among health professionals in rheumatology: Low awareness of EULAR offerings and unfamiliarity with the course content as major barriers—results of a EULAR-funded European survey

Background Ongoing education of health professionals in rheumatology (HPR) is critical for high-quality care. An essential factor is education readiness and a high quality of educational offerings. We explored which factors contributed to education readiness and investigated currently offered postgraduate education, including the European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR) offerings.Methods and participants We developed an online questionnaire, translated it into 24 languages and distributed it in 30 European countries. We used natural language processing and the Latent Dirichlet Allocation to analyse the qualitative experiences of the participants as well as descriptive statistics and multiple logistic regression to determine factors influencing postgraduate educational readiness. Reporting followed the Checklist for Reporting Results of Internet E-Surveys guideline.Results The questionnaire was accessed 3589 times, and 667 complete responses from 34 European countries were recorded. The highest educational needs were ‘professional development’, ‘prevention and lifestyle intervention’. Older age, more working experience in rheumatology and higher education levels were positively associated with higher postgraduate educational readiness. While more than half of the HPR were familiar with EULAR as an association and the respondents reported an increased interest in the content of the educational offerings, the courses and the annual congress were poorly attended due to a lack of awareness, comparatively high costs and language barriers.Conclusions To promote the uptake of EULAR educational offerings, attention is needed to increase awareness among national organisations, offer accessible participation costs, and address language barriers

Aspects of Disability in Rheumatoid Arthritis : a five-year follow-up in the Swedish TIRA project

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a progressive disease, often leading to disability. Because the disease course develops rapidly during the first years after diagnosis, more knowledge is needed about the early disease course to minimize later disability. This thesis describes the course of disability in early RA such as hand function, pain intensity, activity limitation and sick leave. In addition, this thesis compares disability between women and men and compares disability between RA patients and referents. This thesis is primarily based on data from the 320 patients that were included in the multi-centre project in Sweden called ‘Early interventions in rheumatoid arthritis’ (TIRA). A wide range of outcome variables was registered between 1996 and 2006 during regular follow-ups from time for diagnosis through the eight-year follow-up. Outcome regarding disease activity and disability of RA patients still remaining in TIRA at the three and five year follow-up respectively are used in this thesis. Data concerning sick leave were obtained for the patients during six years (1993-2001) – three years before and three years after diagnosis. Referents were included in two of the studies. Data regarding disability in referents were obtained according to hand function and activity limitation using the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ). Data for sick leave were obtained for six years in referents, for the same period as the RA patients. For most variables, disability in RA was most pronounced at time of diagnosis but before intervention started. Disability was then reduced already at the 3-month follow-up and thereafter affected but stable during the following five years. The exception was participation, reflected by sick leave, a variable that was stable from inclusion to three years from diagnosis. Activity limitation, pain intensity and sick leave in RA that represents different aspects of disability were explained by other aspects of disability and contextual factors rather than by disease activity. RA affects women and men differently in some aspects. Women had more severe course of activity limitations than men according to HAQ. Men were more affected than women in range of motion, although the differences were small in a clinical perspective. However, pain intensity and frequency of sick leave did not differ between women and men. Patients with RA have pronounced disability in relation to referents although several variables improve soon after diagnosis. This discrepancy refers to hand function as well as activity limitations and sick leave. The frequency of sick leave increased during the year before diagnosis in relation to referents and was thereafter high compared to sick leave in referents

Linköping University Medical Dissertations No. 1063 Aspects of disability in rheumatoid arthritis- a five-year follow-up in the Swedish TIRA project

The arthritis project ‘TIRA ’ started in 1996, in a time of new treatment strategies that focused on rapid early interventions in patients with recent onset rheumatoid arthritis (RA). During 27 months, 320 patients were included in the project and followed regularly over eight years. A unique approach in the TIRA project was the regular involvement of a multi-disciplinary team that included occupational therapists, physiotherapists and social workers among others. The patients were assessed for genetic markers, disease markers, co-morbidity, exposure factors and lifestyle, disease activity, disability, quality of life, health economy and demography. I was enrolled in the TIRA project as an occupational therapist at the rheumatology unit in Linköping and I met with these patients in the clinical routine. As an occupational therapist, the consequences of RA have always been my focus, because the disease affects major life areas for the patients. From this point of view, my research has focused on disability in patients with early RA to facilitate their daily life activities, an interest that I maintained as a PhD student in the TIRA project. The TIRA project is neither an incidence study nor an intervention study. The collected data has made descriptive and longitudinal analyses possible. The project has generated

Symptoms of subordinated importance in fibromyalgia when differentiating working from non-working women

BACKGROUND: The aim was to identify differences in self-reported symptoms among working (W) and non-working (NW)women, and to determine the most important biopsychosocial variables in differentiating one group from the other. METHOD: A questionnaire was mailed to 524 members of a local chapter of the Swedish Rheumatology Association. A total of 362 persons responded (69%); 96% of which were women. Women older than 64 years and all men were excluded. The final study group consisted of 95 W, and 227 NW women. The questionnaire included data on demographics, employment, support, exercise, daily activities and symptoms. Data were analysed using univariate statistics and a partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). RESULTS: The results showed that 41% of the W and 42% of the NW women were/had been employed in service,care or business. The NW women reported a significantly higher severity of symptoms compared with the W women. The most important variable when differentiating the W from the NW women wassocial support from colleagues and employers. CONCLUSION: To change prevailing attitudes and values towards persons with a work disability, a process of active intervention involving staff is needed. Educating employers as to how a disability may influence a work situation, and the importance of social support, can be improved

Symptoms of subordinated importance in fibromyalgia when differentiating working from non-working women

BACKGROUND: The aim was to identify differences in self-reported symptoms among working (W) and non-working (NW)women, and to determine the most important biopsychosocial variables in differentiating one group from the other. METHOD: A questionnaire was mailed to 524 members of a local chapter of the Swedish Rheumatology Association. A total of 362 persons responded (69%); 96% of which were women. Women older than 64 years and all men were excluded. The final study group consisted of 95 W, and 227 NW women. The questionnaire included data on demographics, employment, support, exercise, daily activities and symptoms. Data were analysed using univariate statistics and a partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). RESULTS: The results showed that 41% of the W and 42% of the NW women were/had been employed in service,care or business. The NW women reported a significantly higher severity of symptoms compared with the W women. The most important variable when differentiating the W from the NW women wassocial support from colleagues and employers. CONCLUSION: To change prevailing attitudes and values towards persons with a work disability, a process of active intervention involving staff is needed. Educating employers as to how a disability may influence a work situation, and the importance of social support, can be improved

The significant role of the school counselor in elementary schools : An interview study on school counselors perception of work, professional role and position in the school operation

There is an understanding that the guidelines for school counselors in Swedish elementary schools lack the preciseness in what the school counselors should do to design and perform their work. Previous research shows that school counselors find it difficult to both establish their role but also to find their position in the school organization. Therefore, this interview study aims to present the perception of six school counselors in Sweden and discover how they feel about their work practice in elementary schools. We found that the main theme in the study was that the work was mainly affected by the management from the school board. Another surprising theme showed that the interviewees agreed that a better work description might help the counselor in general but wasn’t sure that it would help them in their current workplace. They asserted that a good relationship and cooperation with the school board and co-workers were much more important than a more detailed work description. Furthermore, the study also aims to compare their descriptions of the practical work that they perform, to the general guidelines for the work of school counselors. We found that their work in general was according to what is expected for the guidelines, but that in which way the work tasks were performed could differ from one another. Lastly, the study also contains the interviewees perceptions of their position in the school organization and which factors that simplifies or aggravates their practical work. The majority thought that they had established a clear role and position for themselves. However they agreed that many of the coworkers didn’t have the same perspective and understanding as themselves. Some of the interviewees also thought that the quantity of students they were dealing with, also made a difference on the quality of their work.