Browsing by Author "Laapotti, Sanni"

Abstract Study aims: For many, working is a significant part of their daily life and thus well-being at work is considered important. Well-being at work consists of finding one's job meaningful and rewarding. In previous studies, work-counselling has been shown to be an effective method in supporting people's personal growth and ability to function in their professional lives as well as improving their well-being at work. Work-counselling aims to assist people in improving as employees and addressing problematic situations and experiences related to their work by means of reflective conversation. Work-counselling has been discovered to be particularly meaningful with employees within the healthcare sector. Very little research data on the experiences of speech and language therapists (SLT) with work-counselling exists in Finland or globally. The aim of this thesis was to find out how common work-counselling is with SLTs in Finland and how its impact on e.g. well-being at work are perceived by the SLTs. Additionally, the contents and guidelines of work-counselling as well as the goals and desires of SLTs relating to work-counselling were examined. Methods: The study was carried out in survey form via a web questionnaire by the University of Helsinki. The target group of the study were the members of the Finnish Association of Speech Therapists. The web questionnaire was sent to the 1222 members of the association in December of 2016. 330 SLTs participated in the survey, resulting in a response rate of 27%. The survey data was analyzed quantitatively using the IBM SPSS Statistics 24-software, with which means, frequencies, and percentages were calculated from answers to the survey’s multiple-choice questions. The open-ended answers in the survey were analyzed qualitatively by means of content analysis, classification, and grouping of the responses. Results and conclusions: 91% of the respondents reported having received work-counselling and close to half of them had received at least six work-counselling periods. The decision to seek work-counselling was in most cases initiated by the SLT. In most cases, the expenses of the latest work-counselling period were covered by the SLT's employer, and 32% of the respondents reported having paid for their own work-counselling. 84% of the respondents that had received work-counselling perceived it as beneficial and 15% reported having experienced varying benefits. The respondents expressed wishes to receive support in matters relating to occupational safety and their professional skills, including dealing with their professional roles, reviewing practical working methods, exchanging experiences, and professional tips and ideas. Reviewing difficult case studies was also a common desire. Matters relating to occupational safety, such as well-being at work, improving the functionality of the working community, and interaction were also mentioned as desired topics in work-counselling. The results of this thesis increase the understanding of SLTs' experiences with work-counselling. Considering the results presented in this thesis it can be concluded that SLTs experienced work-counselling as an important part of their professional activity that plays a significant role in securing their well-being at work.