Rehabilitation Science

Research in rehabilitation science at Mid Sweden University is concerned with health in working life. How can working life and society be adapted and how can the individual be equipped to promote health and prevent ill health, and those who still suffer from illness or injury be provided with well-functioning rehabilitation? The subject is interdisciplinary and conducted in collaboration with national and international researchers and interested parties.

Rehabilitation science as a subject area is motivated from different perspectives. For the individual, employment, and inclusion in working life are principal factors from both an economic and a social perspective. For the organisation, sick leave, and exclusion from working life pose new challenges and extensive costs, and for society a health-promoting working life is a prerequisite for good public health.

Studies show that ill health and sick leave are higher among women than men, which gives rise to studies that try to analyse gender differences. As research shows that some of the difference can be traced to different conditions of men and women at work and in family life, there is a need for research that analyses the factors that can make it easier for employees to create a balance between work and family life.

Despite intensified national and international research, there remains considerable uncertainty about the factors, methods and models that are effective when it comes to rehabilitating people back to work after illness. The same applies to models and working practices for a health-promoting working life. Research and education in the subject of rehabilitation science aims to contribute increased knowledge about these areas.

Priority research areas

The main aims of the research in rehabilitation science at Mid Sweden University are to analyse and identify factors that lead to good health and a sustainable working life and increased chances of returning to work from sick leave and unemployment. The research focuses on two important aspects of modern working life and what they mean for the possibility of creating a healthier and sustainable working life and effective vocational rehabilitation.

1. Health-promoting working life

Here, the emphasis is on analyses of health-promoting factors, methods and models that prevent disease and create conditions for employee health and positive organisational results. Our research in this area focuses on health promotion and prevention programmes in the workplace, health-promotion factors in female-dominated workplaces, leadership and health, and health and working conditions in small businesses and among the self-employed. We also conduct research aimed at facilitating entry into the labour market for particularly vulnerable groups.

2. Vocational rehabilitation

Vocational rehabilitation is about how to stimulate individuals outside working life in the most effective way possible to return to work. Our research in this area is largely about developing new models and methods for practical use in occupational and vocational rehabilitation, health consequences and coping strategies among employees on sick leave and the unemployed. Central to this area is also to identify individual, organisational, and societal factors that facilitate and hinder return to work and how these factors are related to each other.