Developing the occupational well-being of health care educators in Estonia and Finland – community-based participatory action research

Abstract

Purpose The study aims to evaluate the occupational well-being outcomes of the Community-based Participatory Occupational Well-being Intervention for Educators among health care educators. Design/methodology/approach This study was a community-based participatory action research with pre-test–post-test design, including a year-lasting occupational well-being intervention in the work communities of two higher education institutions for health care in Estonia and one in Finland. Data were collected from Estonian (N = 196) and Finnish health care educators (N = 42) at the pre- and post-intervention by an electronical survey. The intervention included an online occupational well-being course and community-specific development plan, and actions carried out by the Occupational Well-being Development Teams formed in each work community. Data were analysed statistically. Findings Personal occupational well-being increased in each work community (post-test median 4, scale 0–5) although statistically significant differences were not found. Satisfaction with the occupational well-being development activities increased, especially in the Finnish work community (pre-test mean 2.5, SD 0.8; post-test mean 3.2, SD 1.2, p = 0.005). The study found some increase in certain aspects of occupational well-being in relation to the development actions. Practical implications This intervention can act as a facilitator in community-level occupational well-being development but requires a longer period to make the changes visible. Although the results of this study cannot be directly generalized, the intervention and good practices conducted can be utilised in the development of occupational well-being in education at national and international levels. Originality/value This study adds information to this understudied area of intervention research on promoting health care educators’ occupational well-being.