Nurses' and preschool teachers' experiences of taking part in a participatory intervention project in communication-intense working environmentsShow others and affiliations
2022 (English)In: Work: A journal of Prevention, Assessment and rehabilitation, ISSN 1051-9815, E-ISSN 1875-9270, Vol. 73, no 3, p. 857-869Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
BACKGROUND: Noise is a common workplace problem that can affect health and performance. High sound levels have been found in sectors that largely has been overlooked in noise research such as health care and education. In these communication-intense environments the work requires speech communication, thus making it difficult to wear hearing protection.
OBJECTIVE: To explore nurses' and preschool teachers' experiences of taking part in a participatory intervention project aiming to improve the sound environment and the psychosocial work environment.
METHODS: One preschool and one obstetrics ward took part in the study, and a qualitative design was used to evaluate the experience of the participatory intervention approach.
RESULTS: Five main themes were found in the analysis: Awareness, Taking control of the sound environment, Influence of the building and interior design, Circumstances influencing the intervention process and Motivation to maintain change.
CONCLUSIONS: Despite demanding working situations and lack of financial resources, preschool and obstetrics staff described being creative in planning and implementing several different solutions to improve the sound environment at their workplaces, while interventions specifically improving the psychosocial work environment were fewer. Hence, our study suggest that a participatory intervention approach may facilitate participation and motivation, but resources and support are needed for a comprehensive and effective implementation.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
IOS Press, 2022. Vol. 73, no 3, p. 857-869
Keywords [en]
Occupational noise, communication-intense working environment, participatory interventions, qualitative analysis, sound environment
National Category
Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-100731DOI: 10.3233/WOR-211009ISI: 000886958900012PubMedID: 35988249Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85141935694OAI: oai:DiVA.org:oru-100731DiVA, id: diva2:1689050
Funder
Forte, Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare, 2016-071932022-08-222022-08-222022-12-19Bibliographically approved