Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress 2023 EHA Congress 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

At a glance: The ONWARDS insulin icodec trials

A round-up of the ONWARDS phase 3 clinical trials evaluating the novel weekly insulin icodec in people with diabetes.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
BMC Public Health
Published in: BMC Public Health 1/2013

Open Access 01-12-2013 | Research article

Losing independence – the lived experience of being long-term sick-listed

Authors: Linda Lännerström, Thorne Wallman, Inger K Holmström

Published in: BMC Public Health | Issue 1/2013

Login to get access

Abstract

Background

Sickness absence is a multifaceted problem. Much is known about risk factors for being long-term sick-listed, but there is still little known about the various aftermaths and experiences of it. The aim of this qualitative study was to describe, analyze and understand long-term sickness-absent people’s experiences of being sick-listed.

Methods

The design was descriptive and had a phenomenological approach. Sixteen long-term sickness-absent individuals were purposively sampled from three municipalities in Sweden in 2011, and data were collected through semi-structured, individual interviews. The interview questions addressed how the participants experienced being sick-listed and how the sick-listing affected their lives. Transcribed interviews were analysed using Giorgi's phenomenological method.

Results

The interviews revealed that the participants’ experiences of being sick-listed was that they lost their independence in the process of stepping out of working society, attending the mandatory steps in the rehabilitation chain and having numerous encounters with professionals. The participants described that their life-worlds were radically changed when they became sick-listed. Their experiences of their changing life-worlds were mostly highly negative, but there were also a few positive experiences. The most conspicuous findings were the fact that stopping working brought with it so many changes, the participants’ feelings of powerlessness in the process, and their experiences of offensive treatment by and/or encounters with professionals.

Conclusions

Sick-listed persons experienced the process of being on long-term sickness absent as very negative. The negative experiences are linked to consequences of stopping to work, consequences of social insurance rules and to negative encounters with professionals handling the sickness absence. The positive experiences of being sick-listed were few in the present study. There is a need to further examine the extent of these negative experiences are and how they affect sick-listed people’s recovery and return to work. Long-term sickness absence; sick leave; experiences; interviews; phenomenology; Sweden.
Appendix
Available only for authorised users
Literature
1.
2.
SBU [Swedish Council on Technology Assessment and Health Care]: Sickness absence -- causes, consequences, and physicians’ sickness certification practice. A systematic literature review by the Swedish Council on Technology Assessment and Health Care. Scand J Public Health. 2004, 32: 3-263.
3.
4.
5.
Bryngelson A: Long-term sickness absence and social exclusion. Scand J Public Healt. 2009, 37 (8): 839-845. 10.1177/1403494809346871.CrossRef
6.
Eriksson H-G, von Celsing A-S, Wahlström R, Janson L, Zander V, Wallman T: Sickness absence and self-reported health a population-based study of 43,600 individuals in central Sweden. BMC Publ Health. 2008, 8: 426-426. 10.1186/1471-2458-8-426.CrossRef
7.
Floderus B, Göransson S, Alexanderson K, Aronsson G: Self-estimated life situation in patients on long-term sick leave. J Rehabil Med: Official Journal Of The UEMS European Board Of Physical And Rehabilitation Medicine. 2005, 37 (5): 291-299. 10.1080/16501970510034422.CrossRef
8.
Ockander M, Timpka T: A female lay perspective on the establishment of long-term sickness absence. Int J Soc Welf. 2001, 10 (1): 74-79. 10.1111/1468-2397.00154.CrossRef
9.
Ockander M, Timpka T: Long-term sickness absence: women’s opinions about health and rehabilitation. J Adv Nurs. 2005, 50 (5): 508-517. 10.1111/j.1365-2648.2005.03423.x.CrossRefPubMed
10.
Edwards S, Gabbay M: Living and working with sickness: a qualitative study. Chronic Illness. 2007, 3 (2): 155-166. 10.1177/1742395307082124.CrossRefPubMed
11.
Falkdal AH, Edlund C, Dahlgren L: Experiences within the process of sick leave. Scand J Occup Ther. 2006, 13 (3): 170-182. 10.1080/11038120500363634.CrossRefPubMed
12.
Jansson I, Björklund A: The experience of returning to work. Work (Reading, Mass). 2007, 28 (2): 121-134.
13.
Wallman T, Wedel H, Johansson S, Rosengren A, Eriksson H, Welin L, Svärdsudd K: The prognosis for individuals on disability retirement. An 18-year mortality follow-up study of 6887 men and women sampled from the general population. BMC Publ Health. 2006, 6: 103-103. 10.1186/1471-2458-6-103.CrossRef
14.
Labriola M, Lund T, Christensen KB, Albertsen K, Bültmann U, Jensen JN, Villadsen E: Does self-efficacy predict return-to-work after sickness absence? A prospective study among 930 employees with sickness absence for three weeks or more. Work. 2007, 29 (3): 233-238.PubMed
15.
Svensson T, Karlsson A, Alexanderson K, Nordqvist C: Shame-inducing encounters. Negative emotional aspects of sickness-absentees’ interactions with rehabilitation professionals. J Occup Rehabil. 2003, 13 (3): 183-195. 10.1023/A:1024905302323.CrossRefPubMed
16.
de Wolfe P: Reaping the benefits of sickness? Long-term illness and the experience of welfare claims. Disabil Soc. 2012, 27 (5): 617-630. 10.1080/09687599.2012.669107.CrossRef
17.
Wallman T, Wedel H, Palmer E, Rosengren A, Johansson S, Eriksson H, Svärdsudd K: Sick-leave track record and other potential predictors of a disability pension. A population based study of 8,218 men and women followed for 16 years. BMC Publ Health. 2009, 9: 104-104. 10.1186/1471-2458-9-104.CrossRef
18.
Waddell G, Burton AK: Is work good for your health and well-being?. 2006, Norwich: TSO
19.
Clare L: Managing threats to self: awareness in early stage Alzheimer’s disease. Soc Sci Med. 2003, 57 (6): 1017-1029. 10.1016/S0277-9536(02)00476-8.CrossRefPubMed
20.
Dahlberg K, Dahlberg H, Nyström M: Reflective Lifeworld Research. 2008, Lund: Studentlitteratur
21.
Erikson A, Karlsson G, Borell L, Tham K: The lived experience of memory impairment in daily occupation after acquired brain injury. OTJR: Occupation, Participation & Health. 2007, 27 (3): 84-94.
22.
Reventlow SD, Hvas L, Malterud K: Making the invisible body visible. Bone scans, osteoporosis and women’s bodily experiences. Soc Sci Med. 2006, 62 (11): 2720-2731. 10.1016/j.socscimed.2005.11.009.CrossRefPubMed
23.
Röing M, Hirsch J, Holmström I, Schuster M: Making new meanings of being in the world after treatment for oral cancer. Qual Health Res. 2009, 19 (8): 1076-1086. 10.1177/1049732309341192.CrossRefPubMed
24.
Husserl E: Logical investigations. 1970, London, New York: Routledge and K. Paul; Humanities Press
25.
Giorgi A: The status of Husserlian phenomenology in caring research. Scand J Caring Sci. 2000, 14 (1): 3-10. 10.1111/j.1471-6712.2000.tb00554.x.CrossRefPubMed
26.
Giorgi A: Concerning the application of phenomenology to caring research. Scand J Caring Sci. 2000, 14 (1): 11-15. 10.1111/j.1471-6712.2000.tb00555.x.CrossRefPubMed
27.
Giorgi A: The descriptive phenomenological psychological method. J Phenomenol Psychol. 2012, 43: 3-12. 10.1163/156916212X632934.CrossRef
28.
Giorgi A, Fischer WF, Von Eckartsberg R: Duquesne Studies in Phenomenological Psychology. 1971, Pittsburgh: Duquesne University Press
29.
Kvale S: InterViews an introduction to qualitative research interviewing. 1996, Thousand Oaks, Calif: Sage Publications
30.
Vernon SW, Buffler PA: The status of status inconsistency. Epidemiol Rev. 1988, 10: 65-86.PubMed
31.
Lundberg J, Kristenson M, Starrin B: Status incongruence revisited: associations with shame and mental wellbeing. Sociol Health Ill. 2009, 31 (4): 478-493. 10.1111/j.1467-9566.2008.01148.x.CrossRef
32.
Starrin B, Aslund C, Nilsson KW: Financial stress, shaming experiences and psychosocial ill-health: studies into the finances-shame model. Soc Indic Res. 2009, 91 (2): 283-298. 10.1007/s11205-008-9286-8.CrossRef
33.
Svensson T, Müssener U, Alexanderson K: Pride, empowerment, and return to work: on the significance of promoting positive social emotions among sickness absentees. Work. 2006, 27 (1): 57-65.PubMed
34.
Berggren H, Trägårdh L: Är svensken människa? gemenskap och oberoende i det moderna Sverige [Is the Swede human? community and independence in modern Sweden]. 2006, Stockholm: Norstedt
35.
Lincoln YS, Guba EG: Naturalistic inquiry. 1985, Beverly Hills, Calif: Sage Publications
Metadata
Title
Losing independence – the lived experience of being long-term sick-listed
Authors
Linda Lännerström
Thorne Wallman
Inger K Holmström
Publication date
01-12-2013
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Public Health / Issue 1/2013
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2458
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-13-745

Other articles of this Issue 1/2013

BMC Public Health 1/2013 Go to the issue

Research article

Clustering of health-related behaviors, health outcomes and demographics in Dutch adolescents: a cross-sectional study

Study protocol

The influence of early exposure to vitamin D for development of diseases later in life

Research article

High prevalence of type 2 diabetes among the urban middle class in Bangladesh

Research article

The contribution of office work to sedentary behaviour associated risk

Correspondence

Comparison of five influenza surveillance systems during the 2009 pandemic and their association with media attention

Research article

Non-high altitude methods for rapid screening of susceptibility to acute mountain sickness