Open AccessWomen's experiences of hassles and uplifts in their everyday patterns of occupations
Author(s) -
Erlandsson LenaKarin,
Eklund Mona
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
occupational therapy international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.414
H-Index - 37
eISSN - 1557-0703
pISSN - 0966-7903
DOI - 10.1002/oti.179
Subject(s) - openness to experience , context (archaeology) , psychology , psychological intervention , occupational therapy , qualitative research , social psychology , developmental psychology , sociology , social science , psychiatry , paleontology , biology
The aim of this study was to investigate experiences of hassles and uplifts among women. One hundred working mothers were interviewed using the Target Complaints instrument. Content analysis, resulting in both qualitative categories and quantitative variables, was used. Working mothers' hassles were mainly generated by their social, temporal and doing contexts and illustrate the importance of considering women's total patterns of everyday occupations and not focusing one‐sidedly on the work situation when treating occupation‐related ill‐health. Women's uplifts were experienced through the social context and by doing such different occupations as going to the movies, cleaning the house, or attending a class. This indicates the appropriateness of using a client‐centred approach in interventions with openness to the client's unique situation. Unexpected occupations were identified almost exclusively among the hassles. This is important knowledge for occupational therapists since women will continue to be dual workers and at potential risk of developing unbalanced and detrimental patterns of occupations, in turn causing ill health. Copyright © 2003 Whurr Publishers Ltd.