Below the tip of the iceberg: A qualitative perspective of psychological and social aspects of occupational diseases

Year 2021, Volume: 19 Issue: 2, 129 - 139, 23.07.2021

Tuba Usseli Yesim Yasin

https://doi.org/10.20518/tjph.824601

Abstract

Objective: The inadequacy of preventative measures to combat the harmful effects of the working environment leads to circumstances where workers develop occupational diseases. Workers lose their good health and also experience other challenges in various aspects of their daily lives such as being forced to quit their jobs or showing poor performance at work. This study was carried out to observe, understand and analyse the psychological and social consequences that occupational diseases may give rise to.

Methods: It is a quaWlitative study and involves in-depth interviews with workers who were diagnosed with occupational diseases. Interviews, that were conducted with 20 participants through the use of a voice recorder, cover both medical and legal aspects. A targeted sample, chosen to represent the full spectrum of illness, was taken from those who had received medical or legal confirmation of occupational disease. The data was generated manually by the researchers and generated through the thematic analysis technique, again, by the researchers without the use of a software.

Results: We found that the process of diagnosing occupational disease was in itself a stressor and workers experienced negative effects on their mental health, family relationships, gender roles as well as their individual, social and daily living skills.

Conclusion: These effects were manifested in the lives of participants suffering from occupational diseases as stigmatization, depression, social adjustment disorders, concerns about the future, fear of unemployment, impaired gender role and loss of status. The main contribution of this study to the available studies is to demonstrate the necessity to include “stigma related information” in the diagnosis and treatment processes of occupational diseases.

Keywords

Occupational Disesase, Occupational Health, psychological and social effects, Qualitative Research, Stigmatization

Thanks

The authors would like to thank Professors Sibel Sakarya and Nadi Bakirci for their critical reading of the manuscript and constructive comments. We are also grateful to Professor Inci User for her valuable suggestions.

Buzdağının ötesinde: Meslek hastalıklarının psikolojik ve sosyal yönlerine niteliksel bir bakış

Abstract

Amaç: Koruyucu önlemlerin çalışma ortamının zararlı etkileriyle mücadelede yetersiz kalması, çalışanların meslek hastalığı geliştirmelerine neden olur. İşçiler sağlıklarını kaybedebilir ve aynı zamanda günlük yaşamlarını etkileyen işlerini bırakmaya zorlanmak veya işte kötü performans göstermek gibi başka zorluklarla da karşılaşabilirler. Bu çalışma, meslek hastalıklarının yol açabileceği psikolojik ve sosyal sonuçları gözlemlemek, anlamak ve analiz etmek amacıyla yapılmıştır.

Yöntem: Bu niteliksel bir alan araştırmasıdır. Veri oluşturmada derinlemesine görüşme tekniği kullanılmış, ses kaydı alınarak meslek hastalığı tanısı konmuş 20 katılımcı ile görüşülmüştür. Meslek hastalığı için tıbbi veya yasal onay almış olanişçiler arasından meslek hastalıklarını geniş yelpazede temsil etmek üzere birörneklem oluşturulmuştur. Veriler, tematik veri analizi tekniği ile, araştırmacılartarafından bir yazılım olmaksızın analiz edilmiştir.

Bulgular: Meslek hastalığı teşhisisürecinin başlı başına bir stres unsuru olduğu saptanmıştır. Meslek hastalığınınçalışanların ruh sağlığı, aile ilişkileri, cinsiyet rolleri ile bireysel, sosyal ve günlükyaşam becerileri üzerinde olumsuz etkiler oluşturduğu görülmüştür.

Sonuç: Buetkiler, meslek hastalığı olan katılımcıların yaşamlarında damgalanma, depresyon,sosyal uyum bozuklukları, geleceğe yönelik kaygılar, işsizlik korkusu, cinsiyetrollerinde bozulma ve statü kaybı şeklinde kendini göstermiştir. Bu çalışmanınmevcut çalışmalara temel katkısı, meslek hastalıklarının tanı ve tedavi süreçlerinde“damgalanma ile ilgili bilgilerin” yer almasının gerekliliğini göstermesidir

Keywords

Mesleki Sağlık, Meslek Hastalıkları, Niteliksel Araştırma, psikolojik ve sosyal etkiler, niteliksel araştırma, Damgalama

References

• Beyan A, Demiral, Y, Erdal S. Stigmatoward worker with occupationaldiseases: A Qualitative Study. Anatol JFamily Med 2020;3(1):31–39
• ILO. The Prevention of OccupationalDiseases. https://www.ilo.org/safework/info/WCMS_208226/lang--en/index.htm. Published March 25,2013.
• ILO. World Day for Safety and Healthat Work 2019. https://www.ilo.org/safework/events/safeday/lang--en/index.htm Accessed March 26, 2021.
• Drenth PJD, Wolff CJ, Thierry H. AHandbook of Work and OrganizationalPsychology: Volume 2: Work Psychology.Hoboken: Taylor and Francis; 2013.
• Nieuwenhuijsen K, Bruinvels D,Frings-Dresen M. Psychosocial workenvironment and stress-relateddisorders, a systematic review. OccupMed. 2010;60(4):277-286.
• Backé EM, Seidler A, Latza U, RossnagelK, Schumann B. The role of psychosocialstress at work for the development ofcardiovascular diseases: a systematicreview. Int Arch Occup and EnvironHealth. 2011;85(1):67-79.
• Beehr TA. Psychological Stress in theWorkplace. New York: Routledge; 2015.
• Takala J, Hämäläinen P, Saarela KL, et al.Global Estimates of the Burden of Injuryand Illness at Work in 2012. J OccupEnviron Hyg. 2014;11(5):326-337.
• Sorensen G, Landsbergis P, Hammer L,et al. Preventing Chronic Disease in theWorkplace: A Workshop Report andRecommendations. Am J Public Health.2011;101(S1).
• Cottini E, Lucifora C. Mental healthand working conditions in Europeancountries, IZA Discussion Papers, No.4717, 2010. Institute for the Study ofLabor (IZA), Bonn
• Tefft N. Insights on unemployment,unemployment insurance, and mentalhealth. J Health Econ. 2011;30(2):258-264.
• Dembe AE. The social consequences ofoccupational injuries and illnesses. Am JInd Med. 2001;40(4):403-417.
• Rushton, L. The Global Burden ofOccupational Disease. Curr Envir HealthRpt. 2017;4:340-348.
• Kim, J. Depression as a psychosocialconsequence of occupational injury inthe US working population: findingsfrom the medical expenditure panelsurvey. BMC Public Health. 2013;13:303.
• Lippel K. Workers describe the effect ofthe workers’ compensation process ontheir health: A Québec study. Int J Lawand Psych. 2007;30(4-5):427-443.
• Collie A, Sheehan L, Lane TJ, Iles R.Psychological Distress in Workers’Compensation Claimants: Prevalence,Predictors and Mental Health ServiceUse. J Occup Rehabil. 2019;30(2):194-202.
• Senthanar S, MacEachen E, Lippel K.Return to Work and Ripple Effectson Family of Precariously EmployedInjured Workers. J Occup Rehabil.2020;30(1):72-83.
• Basbug G, Sharone O. The Emotional Tollof Long-Term Unemployment: Examiningthe Interaction Effects of Gender andMarital Status. RSF. 2017;3(3), 222-244.
• Reichert A, Tauchmann H. The CausalImpact of Fear of Unemployment onPsychological Health. SSRN ElectronicJournal. 2011.
• Navarro-Abal Y, Climent-RodríguezJA, López-López MJ, Gómez-Salgado J.Psychological Coping with Job Loss.Empirical Study to Contribute to theDevelopment of Unemployed People.Int J Environ Res Public Health.2018;15(8):1787
• Tcherneva, Pavlina R., Unemployment:The Silent Epidemic. Levy EconomicsInstitute, 2017, Working Papers SeriesNo. 895
• Chin W-S, Guo YL, Liao S-C, et al. Qualityof life at 6 years after occupational injury.Qual Life Res. 2017;27(3):609-618.
• Goffman E. Stigma Notes on theManagement of Spoiled Identity.Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall; 1963.
• Lee S-M, Lim LC, Koh D. Stigmaamong workers attending a hospitalspecialist diabetes clinic. Occup Med.2014;65(1):67-71.
• Vargas-Prada S, Coggon D. Psychologicaland psychosocial determinants ofmusculoskeletal pain and associateddisability. Best Pract Res Clin Rheumatol.2015;29(3):374-90.
• Karels CH, Bierma-Zeinstra SM,Burdorf A, Verhagen AP, Nauta AP, KoesBW. Social and psychological factorsinfluenced the course of arm, neck andshoulder complaints. J Clin Epidemiol.2007;60(8):839-48.
• Meints SM, Edwards RR. Evaluatingpsychosocial contributions tochronic pain outcomes. ProgNeuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry.2018;87(Pt B):168-182.