Work experiences of novice occupational therapists and physiotherapists in public sector employment – Analyses using two occupational stress models

Abstract The aim of this study was to evaluate how recently graduated occupational therapists and physiotherapists, employed by the Swedish county councils and municipalities, experience working in public sector healthcare organization. The study group, 262 occupational therapists and physiotherapists who graduated in 1999, is a sub-sample drawn from a national cross-sectional survey. Data were collected in their third year after graduation. The Swedish Demand–control Questionnaire and the Effort–reward Imbalance Questionnaire together with self-constructed questions were used to evaluate psychosocial factors at work. The results reveal that few were exposed to job strain or effort–reward imbalance (ERI). More were defined as having work-related overcommitment (WOC). Logistic regression analyses revealed a significant association between WOC and ERI, sex, degree of effort and degree of reward. One quarter was dissatisfied with their work and this dissatisfaction was significantly associated with ERI, reward (in the ERI questionnaire), control (in the Demand–control Questionnaire) and type of employer. In conclusion, combining the Demand–control model and the ERI model made it possible to describe and analyse varying aspects of the work of novice occupational therapists and physiotherapists in public sector healthcare.