A high turnover among principals may disrupt the continuity of leadership and negatively affect teachers and, by extension, the students. The aim was to investigate to what extent various work environment factors and signs of exhaustion were associated with reported intentions to change workplace among principals working in compulsory schools. A web-based questionnaire was administered twice, in 2018 and in 2019. Part I of the study involved cross-sectional analyses of the associations 2018 (n = 984) and 2019 (n = 884) between occupational factors, signs of exhaustion, and the intention to change workplace, using Generalized Estimating Equations models. Part II involved 631 principals who participated in both surveys. The patterns of intended and actual changes of workplace across two years were described, together with associated changes of occupational factors and signs of exhaustion. Supportive management was associated with an intention to stay, while demanding role conflicts and the feeling of being squeezed between management and co-workers (buffer-function) were associated with the intention to change workplace. The principals who intended to change their workplace reported more signs of exhaustion. To increase retention among principals, systematic efforts are probably needed at the national, municipal, and local level, in order to improve their working conditions.

Background: There is no uniform definition of complementary alternative medicine (CAM). It turned out that the usage of CAM is increasing in the population around the world. There is a range of information on the internet, which can lead to risks for patients when misinformed. Purpose: Was to describe the attitudes to and knowledge of complementary alternative medicine among nursing staff. Method: A general literature review. Results: There were attitudes that CAM should have a place in health care and a need for guidelines, legislation, support, leadership and evidence. Nursing staff saw it as their responsibility to ask patients about their use. Nursing staff felt that CAM was effective for patients. It turned out that there were both some knowledge and insufficient knowledge of CAM. There was also a great need for knowledge and education among the nursing staff. Conclusions: Given the positive approach to CAM among nursing staff, the increasing usage in the population and lack of a clear regulatory framework regarding CAM. Nurses might find themselves in situations where they do not know how to handle patients' questions and the use of CAM. Therefore there is a need for clearer guidance and education about CAM 

Background: The demographic change affects the retirement age, which has been postponed in many countries. Therefore, the number of senior employees is increasing in the world. However, managers’ attitudes towards their employees’ employability affect the employees’ possibilities regarding whether they can and want to work.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate managers’ attitudes towards their employees’ employability and what factors and measures that affect whether employees can and want to work in an extended working life.

Method: The study population in this study consists of 249 municipality managers in Sweden, from a baseline investigation in a follow up study following the swAge-questionnaire. The data was analysed through the method of logistic regression.

Results: 79% of the managers stated that their employees ‘can’ work and 58% that their employees ‘want to’ work until 65 years or older. Managers believed their employees’ health, physical work environment, skills and competence were associated to if they would be able to work until 65 years or older. Lack of support in the social work environment and lack of possibilities to arrange relocations if needed were associated to whether managers believed their employees want to work.

Conclusions: The results indicate that the postponement the retirement age must be followed by measures in the employees’ work situation in order to decrease demands, increase rotation or change work tasks if needed, as well as increased possibilities to recuperate through reduced workload, reduced work pace and reduced working hours. The results will hopefully contribute to the understanding of needed organisational measures in the process of extending working life.

Background: The labour force is ageing due to the demographic change and the postponement of old-age retirement in many countries.

Objective: In order to increase the possibility for employees to maintain their employability and to keep working in an extended working life this intervention project tested a distance education as a technique to integrate a theoretical model for a sustainable working life for all ages (the swAge-model) as a practical management tool in fourteen municipality managers’ ordinary work situation.

Results: Most of the participating managers had difficulty completing the entire training program in this intervention project due to external circumstances, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and re-organisations, and because no extra time during working hours had been allocated to the managers to participate in the intervention project. Despite this, all participating managers appreciated being given the opportunity to participate and take part in the content of the intervention. Everyone considered the theoretical model, the wage model, on which the intervention project was based, to be very useful and to have given them new insights into their managerial duties.

Conclusions: If society and organisations want a larger amount of employees to participate in working life until an older age, they also need to allocate working hours for managers to acquire new knowledge on how to create healthy and sustainable workplaces for all ages, as well as to implement these tools, measures and working methods permanently in the daily organisational work.

Due to the global demographic change many more people will need to work until an older age, and organisations and enterprises need to implement measures to facilitate an extended working life. The aim of this study was to investigate organisational measures and suggestions to promote and make improvements for a healthy and sustainable working life for all ages in an extended working life. This is a qualitative study, and the data were collected through both focus group interviews and individual interviews that included 145 participants. The study identified several suggestions for measures and actions to increase employability in the themes: to promote a good physical and mental work environment; to promote personal financial and social security; to promote relations, social inclusion and social support in the work situation; and to promote creativity, knowledge development and intrinsic work motivation, i.e., based on the spheres of determination in the theoretical swAge-model (sustainable working life for all ages). Based on the study results a tool for dialogue and discussion on employee work situation and career development was developed, and presented in this article. Regular conversations, communication and close dialogue are needed and are a prerequisite for good working conditions and a sustainable working environment, as well as to be able to manage employees and develop the organisation further. The identified measures need to be revisited regularly throughout the employees' entire working life to enable a healthy and sustainable working life for all ages.

Background: The leadership of principals is important for school, teacher and student related outcomes. To be capable of doing their work (i.e., having sufcient workability), school principals need proper organisational preconditions, motivation, and good health. It is therefore concerning that some studies suggest that principals have a work situation that risks taxing their health and reducing their workability. However, few studies have examined the psychosocial working conditions of principals and no study has gauged principals’ workability. Accordingly, we decided to examine Swedish principals’ workability and their perceptions of eight demanding and five supportive managerial circumstances as well as the associations between managerial circumstances and reports of excellent workability.

Methods: The participants comprised 2219 Swedish principals (78% women) who completed a cross-sectional web survey in 2018. A brief version of the Gothenburg Manager Stress Inventory (GMSI-Mini) gauged managerial circumstances. Workability was assessed with the workability score (0–10; WAS). Unadjusted and adjusted logistic regression analyses were used to examine associations between managerial circumstances and reports of excellent workability (WAS≥9). Covariates were: length of work experience as a principal, school level, self-rated health, and general self-efcacy.

Results: The results showed that circa 30% of the principals reported excellent workability. The GMSI-Mini results showed that role conficts, resource defcits, and having to harbour co-workers’ frustrations were the most frequently encountered managerial demands. Meanwhile, cooperating co-workers, supportive manager colleagues, and a supportive private life were the most supportive managerial circumstances. Adjusted logistic regression analyses showed that role conficts and role demands were associated with an increased likelihood of reporting less than excellent workability. In contrast, supportive managerial colleagues, a supportive private life and supportive organisational structures were associated with an increased likelihood of reporting excellent workability.

Conclusion: Circa 30% of the participating principals perceived their workability to be excellent. Reducing role demands, clarifying the principals’ areas of responsibility and accountability in relation to other actors in the governing chain (role conficts), striving for increased role clarity, and striving to find ways to separate work and private life, seem to be promising intervention areas if increasing principals’ workability is desired.

BACKGROUND: Despite an increase in work-life balance literature, the development of successful support to help employees manage their work -life balance is slow. Moreover, there are few interventions with a comprehensive approach to workplace health promotion focusing on work-life balance.

OBJECTIVE: This paper aims to present the development and building blocks of a holistic interdisciplinary health-promoting program, the BELE program, to enhance female employees working in human service organizations health and well-being with a focus on work-life balance.

METHODS: The planning and development of the program was done through an intervention mapping and research circles methodology.

RESULTS: The planning- and development process of the program resulted in a theoretical framework, and a program structure with a program content. The intervention program was named "The Balance in Everyday Life Empowerment program" (BELE program).

CONCLUSIONS: The BELE program adds to the existing body of work-life balance knowledge, so far often based on a conflict approach. Interventions focusing on a comprehensive approach to health and work-life balance with a salutogenic approach are rare. Furthermore, the integration with occupational therapy and health promotion in a workplace health promotion framework is innovative. In a previous study, the BELE program has shown that it enhances women's well-being and balance in their everyday life.