Sammanfattning
Background: Health care employees are often women, a group that has high degrees of sick
leave and perhaps problems attaining occupational balance. However, people think differently
about their everyday activities and it is therefore important to take their perceptions into account
but occupational balance has not yet been measured in health professionals. The aim was to
describe occupational balance in three different samples of health professionals in Sweden. A further
aim was to investigate whether occupational therapists (OTs) rate their occupational balance
differently from other health professionals.
Material and method: Four hundred and eighty-two health professionals, employees in public
dentistry, mental health care and OTs, aged 21–70 years participated. The participants’ occupational
balance was measured using the occupational balance questionnaire (OBQ).
Results: The ratings of occupational balance were similar to earlier studies and did not differ significantly
between the samples. The OTs’ occupational balance was also similar to that of the
other health professionals.
Conclusion: The similarities in occupational balance indicate the same difficulties in attaining it.
Significance: The result highlights the possibility that working people face similar difficulties in
achieving occupational balance. Further research is warranted about how to attain it.