Domestic strain: a hindrance in rehabilitation?

Abstract

Long-term sick leave due to musculoskeletal disorders has increased, especially for women. The aim of this paper was to explore women's and men's descriptions of the private arena in relation to rehabilitation and sickness absence. This study is part of a larger project focusing on consequences of sick leave. Individual interviews were conducted in 1997 and 1998 with 20 women and men who had been long-term sick-listed in 1985 with musculoskeletal diagnoses. The data were analysed using Grounded theory in combination with gender analysis, which involved separately comparing men's and women's statements in order to find similarities and differences. According to the interviewees, factors in the private arena were closely associated with the rehabilitation process. Women described themselves as being responsible for the domestic work while men more often 'helped out' when asked to do so. Women and men described similar strategies to facilitate domestic work. Three dimensions of domestic life were identified, comprising division of domestic work and division of responsibility for domestic life and the amount of socio-emotional support or isolation at home. Using these dimensions, a 'domestic strain model' was developed. Our study indicates that long-term sick-listed women experiencing domestic strain would rather stay at home than return to work. Domestic strain involves inequities in the division of work and responsibilities and a lack of socio-emotional support at home. However, the model of domestic strain needs further empirical testing.

Associations between strain in domestic work and self-rated health: A study of employed women in Sweden

“…This result was in line with the two earlier studies on psychological distress, which found inequity in division of domestic work to be a greater contributory factor to women's psychological distress than the amount of domestic work [10,11]. The importance of a confident relationship with a partner for women's psychological health has also been revealed in the work of Brown and Harris [27] and with findings in the qualitative study by Ö stlund et al [12]. The associations could go either way: physical or mental health problems might contribute to general strain in the relationship and to marital conflicts, conversely, low marital satisfaction and perceived inequity in the division of domestic workload could also be involved in the development of physical and mental health problems.…”

``It's heavenly to be alone!'': A room of one's own as a health-promoting resource for women. Results from a qualitative study

“…Even so, they often feel guilty for spending too little time with their children [6,28]. This corresponds to the accounts given by our own interviewees.…”

Job strain and informal caregiving as predictors of long-term sickness absence: A longitudinal multi-cohort study

“…However, research on work-family conflicts has so far primarily focused on perceived imbalances between work and family life without distinguishing between different sources to this imbalance (20). Only few studies have investigated the combined effect of work and family factors on sickness absence (21)(22)(23)(24). Two studies, based on the same occupational cohort, showed that the combination of high work and family demands predicted all-cause sickness absence and sickness absence due to mental health disorders (21,22).…”