Browsing by Author "Karlqvist, Lena"

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Arbetsmiljöarbete och effekter en kunskapsöversikt
(Arbetslivsinstitutet, 2006) Eklund, Jörgen; Hansson, Bo; Karlqvist, Lena; Lindbeck, Lars; Neumann, W Patrick
Work environment improvements and effects a literature review This report addresses the question 'Do work-environment improvements have any effects?' The aim was to produce a summary of knowledge that includes the methodological problems of measuring and evaluating effects, as well as literature reviews of effects from work environment improvement efforts on musculoskeletal health, health promotion, and economy. Results show that published literature reviews do not give unambiguous support for health benefits of interventions against musculoskeletal problems, when only studies using natural science criteria with experimental or quasi-experimental design are included. There are, on the other hand, many case studies in the so called 'grey' literature that report positive effects. Further, results show that health promotion interventions, and especially physical activity, have a positive effect on low back pain. Workplace interventions to increase physical activity are effective and lead to increased physical activity amongst employees. More studies are needed, however, at the organisational level. There is some support for the profitability of work-environment investments at the organisational level; even though there are few studies and methodological problems. The review also indicates that the financial benefits come mostly from quality and productivity improvements and, to a lesser extent from reductions in costs related to sickness absenteeism. While more recent literature reviews of the effects of health promotion interventions seem to show a stronger effect than older studies, comparisons of older versus more recent studies of interventions against musculoskeletal problems give a more ambiguous picture. Often, the focus of these reviews is on study design with less priority on the quality of the interventions themselves. Multifactorial interventions are particularly difficult to evaluate. At the same time, many studies and research reviews emphasise the need for multifactorial approaches as necessary for successful intervention. Inclusion criteria in literature reviews that only consider experimental designs in organisational interventions exclude studies with good interventions that can't be evaluated with traditional experimental methods. Difficulties in proving the effectiveness of interventions depends on views of what constitutes good scientific quality in the studies. This shows a need for a critical examination of the assumptions used for knowledge generation in this area. Conclusions are that work-environment improvement efforts have effects that are clear in some cases but are difficult to show in others. Effect evaluation poses large methodological challenges. These difficulties are considered to be an important cause of the lack of clear evidence, especially in the area of interventions against musculoskeletal problems. There is a need for new non-experimental research strategies that are suited to today's complex systems and an increased focus on practical, well conducted multifactorial interventions. Key words: Intervention, health promotion, ergonomics, economy, methodology, research
Arbetsvillkor och arbetsbelastning i journalistiskt arbete : en studie av tidningsredaktioner
(Arbetslivsinstitutet, 2005) Tyrkkö, Arja; Karlqvist, Lena
Working conditions and work load in journalistic work a study of editorial offices The circumstances this study aimed to shed light on were differences between male and female journalists, between journals of different size and between editorial work in a big city and a provincial town. We have been studying whether, and in that case how, working conditions and health for women and men have been influenced by the integration of the sexes that has taken place parallel to technological development Questionnaires for self-evaluation, interviews and observation were used as methods to analyze working conditions, workload and health. One big, one medium sized and one small daily newspaper were included in the study. A total of 317 answered the questionnaire, while in two of the news offices 24 journalists were interviewed and observed with regard to their working conditions and health. Since this is a cross-sectional and relatively small study, there is not enough material to draw far- reaching conclusions. Most newspapers today are working under economic pressure, a fact that has an impact on staffing and hence workload in the editorial office. In general terms the size of the newspaper seems not very decisive for what working conditions look like. But the worse the economic situation, the more demanding gets the working situation of the journalists. Yet, even for journalists who work in an economically prosperous company with high set goals of profitability, the working environment is far from being optimal. Journalistic work is intense in terms of knowledge and creativity. Of journalists in this study, a great majority report that they experience their work as very interesting. The journalists employed at the smallest provincial newspaper are the group that is the most satisfied with their work. The job requires great planning and organisational capacity, to master large unities, taking initiative and making independent decisions. Our study shows that an individual s responsibility for a successful outcome of his or her work is of great importance. A majority considers that they have enough responsibility in relation to what they know. They also feel they have freedom to decide over their own work. But the part who consider that they have considerable influence over the course of events at the job is in general less than half. We found a clear difference between generations with regard to possibilities for influence. Some of the older editors, with long periods of employment, enjoy a more independent position with a high degree of decision-making power as to the newspaper s contents. As a profession journalism has for long been male dominated, but is now showing a bigger share of women. Between 1989 and 2000 the share of women rose from 34 to 47 percent and the increase seems to be going on. Through this, the journalist profession has become one of the few professions with a balanced gender division. Earlier studies indicate that the gender division between different positions in news offices is in principle equivalent to the labour market at large. Today s situation is according to our study to a certain degree still marked by a traditional gender order. Patterns of gender segregation in the newspapers show differences. The changed gender composition of the profession has not left any traces on the higher echelons of the companies. This is true especially for the two smaller newspapers, which in conformity with other provincial newspapers are managed by men. Profile illustrations indicate similar patterns for the editorial offices we studied. Time pressure is surprisingly identical irrespective of financial status, number of employees and circulation. It is the everyday production process of a new issue that controls the work environment. Pressure to produce quickly is as high for the slimmed organisation of the big city newspaper, which is competing on a tough media market, as for the small newspaper that struggles for survival. Similar to working life at large the tendency is an increasing pace of work. Quite clearly IT has an impact on the production and work within the media. Our study showed that time spent with intense computer work was very high at all three editorial offices. On the average 63 percent of the women and 61 percent of the men worked more than 20 hours per week at the computer. The more tied to the computer, the higher the risk of developing problems (pain) in the skeleton, joints and muscles. High pressure in time indicates high demands. Evaluations of stress levels in our study indicated co-variations with the level of demands in this respect. The connection between stress evaluation and ailments were a rather general feature for all the three editorial offices and most blatantly for the women. The profiles are showing the importance of the different health variables. Health results are different for women and men. The work situation does not explain the entire difference in health outcomes. What also seems to be important is that the physical design of the workplaces is not adapted to women to a sufficient degree.
Från matsal till matlåda : Ergonomiska belastningar vid distribution av portionsförpackad varm mat
(Arbetslivsinstitutet, 2001) Bildt, Carina; Dahlberg, Raymond; Karlqvist, Lena
From dining room to lunch box: Ergonomic loads in distribution of individually portioned warm food During the last years in Sweden, distribution of warm food have been a service more commonly offered, then other forms of help, by the society to old people living at home who can't prepare their own food anymore. Organisations for this type of distribution have been built up in several Swedish municipalities. In the municipality where the present study took place, the food distributors were working under conditions that their employer thought was very demanding. The research and development program Gender and work, at the National Institute for Working Life, performed a case-study where the main aim was to describe the food distributors psychosocial and physical working conditions, to compare those to other categories of employees, and to suggest solutions to the problems identified. Structured interviews focusing on the psychosocial working conditions and of the employees own suggestions of solutions were performed with five food distributors, three cooks and two cleaners. The physical working conditions were measured through observations, by measuring pulse and walking distance per working day, and by rated perceived excertion. The overall impression from our study is that the food distributors indeed have a very demanding working condition, and that there are several aspects that need to be improved, both in the short and in the long run. The psychosocial working conditions were characterised by high mental demands and low decision latitude, time pressure and dissatisfaction with the fact that they can't live up to the expectations. The measurements of the physical demands showed that the food distributors scored very high on both mean pulse and %HRR, which is a known risk factor for reduced health. The combination of demanding psychosocial and physical working conditions is a cause of worry, at least in the long run. In the performed interviews, there was nothing that indicated that distribution of warm food will decrease further on, rather the opposite. It is therefore important that the working conditions for the food distributors are organised so they can work during a number a years and still remain healthy. A short-run solution to the problem is to employ two more food distributors and lease a third car. Then the total workload would decrease and be more evenly distributed during the day. It is also possible to extend the excepted delivery time from two hours to three hours, which would decrease the time pressure. A long-run solution to the problem is to design combination-positions, where both food distribution and work in the hospital kitchen, and maybe also cleaning, are included. Such combination-positions would make it possible to increase the number of working hours to full-time, which is necessary to be able to live on the salary. The variation over the week will be much greater with such a solution, and the demands more evenly distributed.
Hur kan könsskillnader i arbets- och livsvillkor förstås? : Metodologiska och strategiska aspekter samt sammanfattning av MOA-projektets resultat ur ett könsperspektiv
(Arbetslivsinstitutet, 2000) Härenstam, Annika; Westberg, Hanna; Karlqvist, Lena; Leijon, Ola; Rydbeck, Anna; Waldenström, Kerstin; Wiklund, Per; Nise, Gun; Jansson, Catarina
How can gender differences in work and living conditions be understood? Aspects on methods and strategies in research and a summary of the results of the MOA-project from a gender perspective To investigate and compare women's and men's work and living conditions is not an easy task. This is, among other things, due to the fact that gender research is an area where many different theories and models of explanations are claimed. Sometimes there are great differences both in ideology and scientific frames of reference and point of departure. It is also a question of the widespread gender segregation in our society. The objective of the MOA-study ÒModern Work and Living Conditions for Women and Men" has been to develop methods better adjusted to modern work and living conditions. In this work the gender perspective was of central interest. The report summarises results and conclusions of earlier as well as new qualitative and quantitative analyses which are relevant for gender comparative studies of work and life conditions. Through the combination of different theoretical and methodological strategies in an empirical study we wish to contribute to a deeper understanding in what constitutes the gender differences and how they can be explained. The strategies used and discussed in the report are: The selection design; particularly gender matched sampling. Methodological testing; using different methods for data collection and analyses (triangulation); investigating the reliability, validity, relevance and meaning of questionnaire items and classification of occupations as indicator on exposure and position for women and men. Variable oriented and person oriented approaches in gender comparative analyses. Combining quantitative and qualitative methods of analyses. Structural perspective. The meaning of the gender segregation is analysed. Women's and men's work conditions in different sectors on the labour market are investigated and compared. Data are collected on different levels and combined. Interaction between levels is analysed. Overall perspective is applied on women's and men's work- and living conditions in order to study the consequences of total work load, the distribution of responsibility in the family, the interface between the work sphere and the private sphere and the time allocated in paid and not paid activities. Interdisciplinary perspective (social, psychological, ergonomical and chemical/physical working conditions). The empirical results from the MOA-project's many different analyses are used as an illustration on how similarities and differences between gender can be studied. Data on individual level and organisational and labour market levels have been combined and analysed in different constellations. The report starts with methodological and strategic questions relevant to studies on gender and work. After that the results from the MOA-project are concluded in relation to the chosen strategies. The report continues with two sections where the results of deeper analyses are summed up. Furthermore, methods and strategies for gender comparative studies as well as mechanisms of reshaping gender segregation are discussed. Finally, proposals are given on strategies and questions for continuing research. Our hope is that the chosen approach, i.e. to Òcut" a project from how the gender perspective has been highlighted in a variety of questions, can bring useful knowledge to coming research in the area gender, work and health.
Women s conditions in working life
(Arbetslivsinstitutet, 2001) Bildt, Carina; Karlqvist, Lena
This volume of Arbete och Hälsa (Work and Health) is a result of a workshop held in Brussels in September 2000. The workshop was one out of about 70 workshops that preceded the European Union Presidency Conference Work Life 2000 , that took place in Malmö in southern Sweden 22-25 January 2001. The about 70 workshops covered virtually every aspect of modern working life within the following categories: labour market, working environment, work organisation, information society, diversity in working life, small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as gender. The present workshop Women s Conditions in Working Life covered women s situation in terms of labour market conditions, work organisation, working environment, as well as health effects. The aim to present the state of the art about science and practice within these areas, as well as to point out possible areas for interventions, was explicit in the invitation to participate in the workshop. Content: Introduction Carina Bildt and Lena Karlqvist The new economy and the work life balance: opportunities and constraints for women and men Dianne Perrons Women and labour market regulation Pamela Meadows Gendered health consequences of unemployment among young people Anne Hammarström Gender and working conditions in the European Union Kaisa Kauppinen The importance of gender sensitive studies of work-related neck and upper limb disorders Lena Karlqvist Working conditions and mental health among women Carina Bildt Gender approaches in the EU Network Workplace Health Promotion Elisabeth Lagerlöf and Ewa Menckel Listening to women: Action-oriented research in ergonomics Karen Messing and Ana Maria Seifert