Work - Volume 66, issue 3

Authors: Jasmin, Ishani | Binnie, James

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Stress is an acknowledged element of the medical profession; how cultural backgrounds may affect the perception of stress is understudied. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to examine the stress-related experiences of British South Asian medical students and junior doctors, and to explore their coping mechanisms. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with five participants at various stages of medical training. All participants reported stress, anxiety or depression and were of a British South Asian heritage. RESULTS: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was undertaken and three master themes were identified. These themes follow a narrative journey. The …first theme was Individualism and External Reasoning, and referred to the factors that influenced participants career choices - both internal (e.g. a sense of self-efficacy) and external (e.g. prior exposure to the medical career). Secondly, Stress and Vulnerability examined the stress the participants experienced as a result of either internal stressors (e.g. perfectionism) or external stressors (e.g. social comparison). The last theme, Perseverance and Coping, referred to the coping strategies that participants developed to deal with aforementioned stressors, which varied from self-harm to visualisation. CONCLUSIONS: The choice to pursue a medical career was based on self-efficacy, prior exposure, and the perceived prestige of the vocation. Stressors and related coping mechanisms varied within the cohort, depending on social, environmental, and psychological circumstances. Whilst stress management interventions should take a personalised approach, considering individual cultural backgrounds; the systemic factors within medical training that directly lead to stress have to be addressed rather than merely acknowledged. Show more

Keywords: Doctors, mental health, burnout, culture, qualitative, Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

DOI: 10.3233/WOR-203210

Citation: Work, vol. 66, no. 3, pp. 675-687, 2020

Authors: Katić, Ivana | Nešić, Ana

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Absence from work due to illness is one of the important problems in organizations in Serbia. The subjective experience of stress contributes to the degree of absenteeism for several reasons: the demands of the organization in relation to its employees, the low standard of living and care for existence, poor health prevention, and many others. According to European standards, subjective stress contributes to high absenteeism in organizations and to relatively significant health problems. The lack of preventive health care measures, and unclear organizational requirements that do not correspond to the capacities of employees are among the causes of this …phenomenon. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the research is to determine and identify the existence of stress indicators manifested through self-evaluation of the respondents, as well as to establish the nature of the relationship between stress symptoms and general demographic indicators, personal health assessment and the existence of stressful events of the respondents. This paper presents an analysis of the results of stress indicators, as well as psychosomatic difficulties whose existence could indicate the occurrence or increase of absenteeism of employees in organizations. RESULTS: Significant differences between stress symptoms with respect to age, years of service, the self-evaluation of health, and recorded unpleasant events were apparent. CONCLUSIONS: In Serbia, the problem of absenteeism, primarily sickness-related, is quite pronounced and significantly higher than in other European countries. Researching the causes of stress and the possibilities for decreasing and preventing it would help reduce adverse effects on the health, economic and psychological state of both employees and organizations. Show more

Keywords: Work process, psychological stress, symptoms, absenteeism

DOI: 10.3233/WOR-203211

Citation: Work, vol. 66, no. 3, pp. 689-697, 2020

Authors: da Conceição, Carolina Souza | Broberg, Ole | Duarte, Francisco

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Ergonomic work analysis (EWA) is an ethnographic-like method that can produce highly detailed accounts of real work in work systems. Such knowledge is valuable for designers when they are designing new work systems. However, rich data derived from EWA should be transformed into more designer-friendly guidelines to have an impact on engineering design projects. OBJECTIVE: We propose a six-step model to transform EWA into ergonomic design guidelines (EDG). This model can be applied by ergonomists and researchers when taking part in projects with the aim of transferring operational experiences into engineering design. METHODS: Based on …previous experiences using EWA, we establish a model for transforming the outcome of EWA into EDG. We illustrate the model through a case study based on the offshore oil industry. RESULTS: This paper describes how EWA rich data is transformed into EDG following the proposed six-step model, including the concepts of characteristic situations and settings of usage. CONCLUSIONS: Based on preliminary testing and validation by designers, EWA can be transformed into useful EDG by following the six steps of the proposed model. Show more

Keywords: Ergonomic design guidelines, ergonomic work analysis, workspace design, off shore oil industry

DOI: 10.3233/WOR-203212

Citation: Work, vol. 66, no. 3, pp. 699-710, 2020