Salutogenesis in working life - Research & Development
A research and development health promotion project in work place settings are running in co-operation with several organizations and enterprises.
The aim of the project is
- to promote a positive work place health development
- to strengthen the capacity for work
- to promote a good quality of life at work places
- to develop the capacity to identify and use resistance resources in the immediate environment
thus to maintain and develop a strong sense of coherence.
A salutogenic approach (Antonovsky) is adopted, meaning the focus is on employees’ capacities, potentials, resources and competencies rather than on inabilities. The research and development project is carrying out on different organizational levels, on operational leaders, among collaborators and at an organizational level.
In the Teachers’ world
The study “In the Teachers world” is running for a doctoral degree by Phil.Lic/Researcher Thea Kusénius. The study context is the Swedish speaking teachers at The University of Applied Sciences, established in the early 1990’s in the coastal zone of Finland. This institution/workplace has been characterized by a state of constant change and re-organization. The educational context has been seen as challenging and multidimensional.
The aim of the study is
- to understand the university teachers “teaching profession” (an interactive and reciprocal understanding of learning)
- to explore their perceived health and wellbeing
- to examine whether the university context can serve as an empowering and health promoting environment
- to examine and describe the distribution of the sense of coherence (SOC) among university teachers
- to relate the SOC to perceived health and wellbeing.
A qualitative study design is adopted using the life world approach inspired by Schütz and Bengtsson. The data is gathered by using focus group interviews, life stories and dialogs with the university teachers. The SOC-13 questionnaire (Antonovsky) serves as a base for the interviews and the narratives. A hermeneutical analysis of the material is used (Gadamer).
The study is carrying out in co-operation with Åbo Akademi University, Faculty of Education, Professor M.Uljens.
Publications
Kusénius, T., Backström-Widjeskog, B. 2008. Lärarskapet i förändringens kalejdoskop. In: Töytäri-Nyrhinen, A. (toim.) Tanssii ammattikorkeakoulujen kanssa - Opettajuuden kehittämistä yhdessä. Haaga-Helia julkaisusarna 3/2008. Ammatillinen Opettajakorkeakoulu. Haaga-Helia: Edita, 94-95.
Kusénius, T. 2005. I Yrkeshögskolans värld - en kvalitativ studie ur yrkeshögskolelärarperspektiv. Licentiatavhandling i pedagogik. Växjö universitet, Institutionen för pedaagogik. Växjö.
Kusénius, T. 2003. Från temaintervju till livsvärldsforskning inom yrkeshögskolekontext. In: Uljens, M. and Bengtsson, J. (Red.). Livsvärldsfenomenologi och hermeneutik. Aktuella humanvetenskapliga forskningsproblem. Helsingfors universitet, Pedagogiska institutionen. Forskningsrapport 192, 113-124.
Accepted abstracts
Kusénius, T. Salutogenesis and learning in workplace. In: Lindström, B., Kusénius, T. A salutogenic approach to workplace health in an eduational setting. The 20th IUHPE World Conference on Health Promotion, Geneva, Switzerland, 11-15 July, 2010.
Kusénius, T., Eriksson, M., Lindström, B., Uljens, M. In the Teacher's World. The University of Applied Sciences - A Healthy Workplace? In: The 6th Nordic Health Promotion Research Conference, Gothenburgh, Sweden, 20-22 August, 2009.
Kusénius, T. In the Teacher's World - A qualitative study from the Teacher's point of view. The Qualitative Research Conference in hermeneutics. Abo Akademi University, Faculty of Education, Vasa, Finland, May, 2006.
For more information please contact thea.kusenius@novia.fi or thea.kusenius@folkhalsan.fi