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Daily occupations, health and well-being in different populations: intervention studies and instrument development

Principal investigator; Eklund, Mona, Professor, PhD

Phone: ++46462221957

Co-workers, Lund University: Argentzell Elisabeth, Erlandsson Lena-Karin, Håkansson Carita, Leufstadius Christel, Persson Dennis, Wästberg Birgitta

Co-workers, not Lund University: Eakman Aaron, Gunnarsson Birgitta, Kaya Cicerali Lütfiye, Markström Urban, Sandlund Mikael

Research area/areas: Occupational Therapy

The strain under which people live their lives alters along with societal changes. That remunerative work contains risks of stress and ill health is a wellknown fact, and the collected load of work and household chores has been investigated as well. However, the impact of people's entire pattern of daily occupations (PDO), including also leisure occupations, self-maintenance, social relations, etc, on health and well-being has not been studied.

That an increasing number of individuals are on sick leavefor reasons such as burnout and fatigue makes this an urgent area of inquiry. Furthermore, many groups in society, with and without disabilities, never enter the labor market. Will this affect their quality of life negatively, or may other daily occupations, such as leisure activities or voluntary work, substitute for paid work? How can the entire PDO be considered in occupational therapy and rehabilitation? What is the effectiveness of such interventions? And how can 'occupation' be operationalised and measured? Moreover, the health care system tends to address people's illnesses and dysfunctions, but often neglects their quality of life and how they lead their lives after illness and injury. How can an occupational perspective contribute to better rehabilitation and better life situation? These questions guide the research conducted in this research group, which is organised around four themes:
- Exploring relationships between occupation and health
- Evaluation of outcomes of occupational therapy interventions
- Development of instruments and methodology
- Development of models and theory

Beneficial and detrimental PDOs have been identified in different samples. This knowledge is used in interventions for life-style related illness and health risks, such as burnout, stress, overweight, etc, in primary health care, work rehabilitation, and mental health care. Among the interventions developed and evaluated are Redesigning Daily Occupations (ReDO), found effective for return to work among women with stress-related disorders. Everyday Life in Balance (ELiB) is presently designed to enhance activity and participation among people with psychiatric disabilities.

Link to project homepage: http://www.med.lu.se/english/hvs/activity_and_health

5 recent original publications

Eklund Mona, Erlandsson Lena-Karin
Return to Work Outcomes of the Redesigning Daily Occupations (ReDO) Program for Women with Stress-Related Disorders-A Comparative Study.
Women & Health. 2011; 51: 676 - 692

Eklund Mona, Leufstadius Christel, Bejerholm PhD Ulrika
Time Use among People with Psychiatric Disabilities: Implications for Practice.
Psychiatric rehabilitation journal. 2009; 32: 177 - 191

Erlandsson Lena-Karin, Eklund Mona, Persson Dennis
Occupational value and relationships to meaning and health: Elaborations of the ValMO-model.
Scandinavian journal of occupational therapy. 2010; Mar 30: -

Eklund Mona, Bäckström Martin, Lissner Lauren, Björkelund Cecilia, Sonn Ulla
Daily activities mediate the relationship between personality and quality of life in middle-aged women.
Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation. 2010; Aug 5: -

Eklund Mona
Work status, daily activities and quality of life among people with severe mental illness.
Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation. 2009; Jan 6: -

Further publications here (new window)

Financing/year