Health care professionals’ experience-based understanding of individuals’ capacity to work while depressed and anxious
Sammanfattning
Aim: The meaning of capacity to work while depressed and anxious is not well comprehended. The aim of this study was to
explore and describe health care professionals’ experience-based understanding of capacity to work in individuals with
depression and/or anxiety disorders. Method: An exploratory qualitative design was used. Four focus groups were conducted
with 21 professionals from psychiatric, occupational, and primary health care. Data were analysed using inductive content
analysis. Results: Capacity to work while depressed and anxious was understood as a change from the familiar to a no longer
recognizable performance at work. Managing time, daily work demands, and emotions was described as difficult for the
patients, and capacity to work could be fragmented by anxiety attacks. Patients were perceived as continuing to work while life
outside work crumbled. Capacity to work was described as part of a greater whole, the work community, and the patient’s
participation in the work community was considered problematic. Conclusions. The findings provide a deeper understanding of
the reduced capacity to work compared with theoretical or medico-administrative descriptions. Applied to patient encounters it
could promote fitness-for-work dialogues, rehabilitation, and tailor-made work interventions.