CONTRIBUTIONS. Two projects at Sahlgrenska Academy have been awarded funding from AFA, in the total sum of SEK 3.2 million. Inger Ekman will investigate how a person-centered approach affects the health care staff’s work environment, while Håkan Tinnerberg’s project is about chimney sweepers’ exposure to soot.
Inger Ekman, professor at the Institute of Health and Care Sciences and one of the research leaders at The Gothenburg University Centre for Person-centred Care (GPCC) receives SEK 1,647,000 for her project, where she will study the person-centered approach from the health care staff’s perspective, and how person-centered care affects their job satisfaction, work satisfaction, and psychosocial work environment.
Person-centered care is a model where the patient is a partner in the planning and implementation of care. Previous studies show that the approach can have positive effects on patients, such as shorter hospital care. However, knowledge of its effect on the health and safety of the workforce is limited. Increased knowledge of how a person-centered approach influences job satisfaction, stress and psychosocial work environment can show whether the model has the potential to reduce staff turnover and sick leave in care.
For the study, surveys are sent out before, during and after the introduction of the person-centered care working model. The study also includes, through interviews, finding out what obstacles and opportunities the staff experience that the model entails. The project runs until September 2021 and is expected to show whether a person-centered approach can reduce stress, staff turnover and sick leave. The project is part of a platform for knowledge sharing and the introduction of person-centered care and the results are expected to be of help to hospitals and regions planning to introduce the model.
chimney sweepers work environment
Sweepers are exposed to polyaromatic hydrocarbons, PAH, which are found in soot and are at high risk of contracting cancer and cardiovascular disease. In a study, Håkan Tinnerberg, a researcher at the Department of Community Medicine and Public Health, at the Institute of Medicine, will investigate how the exposure differs between different work tasks and how it can best be measured can contribute to preventive efforts and better working environment and health for chimney sweepers. Håkan Tinnerberg will receive SEK 1,577,000 for the study, which will investigate soot exposure to soot by measuring their absorption of PAH through the air and skin. Chimney sweepers will be allowed to keep a diary, carry a direct-viewing and logging measuring instrument and submit urine samples. The project includes testing a working method of sweeping chimneys from below, which might reduce soot exposure.
The project is ongoing until December 2021 and is expected to provide new knowledge about which equipment best protects soot from PAH and about the methods that are suitable for monitoring the soot exposure. The results are expected to contribute to a better working environment and health for sooters and may also benefit other occupational groups exposed to soot and PAH.
TEXT: ELIN LINDSTRÖM
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