Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the occupational well-being among employees with chronic diseases, and the buffering effect of four job resources, possibly offering targets to enhance occupational well-being.Method: This cross-sectional study (N = 1951) was carried out among employees in educational and (semi-)governmental organizations in the Netherlands. The dimensions of the survey were chronic diseases (i.e., physical, mental, or both physical and mental), occupational well-being (i.e., work ability, burnout complaints, and work engagement), and job resources (i.e., autonomy, social support by colleagues, supportive leadership style, and open and communicative culture). First, it was analyzed if chronic diseases were associated with occupational well-being. Second, it was analyzed if each of the four job resources would predict better occupational well-being. Third, possible moderation effects between the chronic disease groups and each job resource on occupational well-being were examined. Regression analyses were used, controlling for age.Results: Each chronic disease group was associated with a lower work ability. However, higher burnout complaints and a lower work engagement were only predicted by the group with mental chronic diseases and by the group with both physical and mental chronic disease(s). Furthermore, all four job resources predicted lower burnout complaints and higher work engagement, while higher work ability was only predicted by autonomy and a supportive leadership style. Some moderation effects were observed. Autonomy buffered the negative relationship between the chronic disease groups with mental conditions (with or without physical conditions) and work ability, and the positive relationship between the group with both physical and mental chronic disease(s) and burnout complaints. Furthermore, a supportive leadership style is of less benefit for occupational well-being among the employees with mental chronic diseases (with or without physical chronic diseases) compared to the group employees without chronic diseases. No buffering was demonstrated for social support of colleagues and an open and communicative organizational culture.Conclusion: Autonomy offers opportunities to reinforce occupational well-being among employees with mental chronic diseases. A supportive leadership style needs more investigation to clarify why this job resource is less beneficial for employees with mental chronic diseases than for the employees without chronic diseases.
Research conducted by the Research Group Study Success indicates that many students experience performance pressure. In addition, we’ve noticed an increase in performance pressure in recent years. A little bit of performance pressure can be a good thing: it can facilitate concentration or hitting your deadlines. Are you feeling pressured over extensive periods of time, or are you experiencing stress, lack of sleep, or decreased concentration due to concerns about delivering on performance? Then it is probably a good plan to spring into action. With this info sheet we will explain what performance pressure entails, what causes it, and we will offer suggestions on how to handle performance pressure.
Person-centered care interventions can improve the quality of life and decrease behavioral problems of people with dementia. Although not convincingly proven, person-centered care interventions may benefit the caregivers as well. This study aims to gain insight into how working with the Veder Contact Method (VCM) – a new person-centered care method – influences the job satisfaction of caregivers.
LINK
Students in Higher Music Education (HME) are not facilitated to develop both their artistic and academic musical competences. Conservatoires (professional education, or ‘HBO’) traditionally foster the development of musical craftsmanship, while university musicology departments (academic education, or ‘WO’) promote broader perspectives on music’s place in society. All the while, music professionals are increasingly required to combine musical and scholarly knowledge. Indeed, musicianship is more than performance, and musicology more than reflection—a robust musical practice requires people who are versed in both domains. It’s time our education mirrors this blended profession. This proposal entails collaborative projects between a conservatory and a university in two cities where musical performance and musicology equally thrive: Amsterdam (Conservatory and University of Amsterdam) and Utrecht (HKU Utrechts Conservatorium and Utrecht University). Each project will pilot a joint program of study, combining existing modules with newly developed ones. The feasibility of joint degrees will be explored: a combined bachelor’s degree in Amsterdam; and a combined master’s degree in Utrecht. The full innovation process will be translated to a transferable infrastructural model. For 125 students it will fuse praxis-based musical knowledge and skills, practice-led research and academic training. Beyond this, the partners will also use the Comenius funds as a springboard for collaboration between the two cities to enrich their respective BA and MA programs. In the end, the programme will diversify the educational possibilities for students of music in the Netherlands, and thereby increase their professional opportunities in today’s job market.
Doel van dit project is het vergaren van kennis over de eigenschappen en kenmerken van de ‘afvalstroom’ van materiaal die ontstaat tijdens de verwerking van Nylon 12 met de 3D-printtechnologie Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) en de mogelijkheden om dit materiaal voor andere toepassingen te gebruiken. Onder ‘afval’ verstaan we het restmateriaal dat niet meer ingezet kan worden in het proces. SLS is de meest volwassen 3D-printtechnologie die een hoge nauwkeurigheid biedt en geschikt is voor kleinserie producties. De producten hebben goede mechanische en thermische eigenschappen. Een SLS machine print met high performance thermoplastics, hoofdzakelijk Nylon 12 (PA12), een veelgebruikte kunststof binnen de high-tech maakindustrie. Het Nylon 12 materiaal wordt in poedervorm gebruikt, zowel als basismateriaal voor de print als voor ondersteunings- of supportmateriaal. De afvalstroom ontstaat uit poeder dat is gebruikt als support materiaal, maar waarvan de eigenschappen door blootstelling aan warmte dusdanig veranderd zijn dat het niet langer geschikt is voor vervaardiging via SLS. Door vermenging van nieuw en gebruikt poeder is het mogelijk een gedeelte van het materiaal opnieuw in te zetten. Desondanks ontstaat er per printjob meer gebruikt poeder dan er vermengd kan worden. Tot op heden zijn er geen toepassingen bekend waarin dit afvalpoeder hoogwaardig ingezet kan worden, en het materiaal belandt bij een afvalverwerking. Aanleiding voor dit onderzoeksproject is de kennisvraag van zowel kennisinstellingen als bedrijven naar toepassingen voor deze afvalstroom Nylon 12. In dit project zal het consortium zich onder leiding van het lectoraat Kunststoftechnologie van Windesheim richten op de volgende praktijkvraag: ‘In welke verwerkingsprocessen en/of producten kan het Nylon 12 poeder hoogwaardig worden ingezet’. Het consortium bestaat uit deskundigen in het vakgebied, die kennis en ervaring hebben met SLS printen, het materiaal en kunststofontwerp- en verwerkingstechnieken. Er zijn een tweetal MKB-bedrijven bij het project betrokken. De beoogde projectresultaten zijn: - Nieuwe kennis over de eigenschappen van de afvalstroom ‘Nylon 12’ die ontstaat als resultaat van verwerking met Selective Laser Sintering. - Nieuwe kennis over de toepassingsmogelijkheden van deze afvalstroom en de grondstofbesparingen die mogelijk gerealiseerd kunnen worden. - Onderzoeksrapport.
On a societal scale, the ‘problem with work’ is that everyone is exhausted, job security has been replaced by ‘flex work’ and much important work had been invisibilised. While billions of people are displaced and illegalized from work, others have physical/ mental conditions caused by work. The problem with work merits scrutiny not only from medical, corporate or legal perspectives. It needs tackling without an agenda of productivity, with an open regard and embodied, intuitive research. Artistic research has this scope. It taps into knowledges that are underused/repressed, by involving the body, harnessing intuition, experience and situatedness, and activating a plurality of voices. The aim of this research is to gain a deeper understanding of what is (not) work, who we are when we perform work, and when we don’t or are not able to work. Why are certain activities or roles called work and what happens when the term is applied to activities that are not normally deemed work, but which include comparable elements? Three research questions are addressed: 1. What can be learned about work by regarding every job, or all the work, as a performance? 2. What can be learned about performance (art) by looking at it through the lens of work? 3. What are ethical practices in collaborative and participative work processes? The research is carried out through an artistic approach that contains a particular way of making, teaching and researching which is collaborative, performative and transdisciplinary. It proposes the body as a thinking apparatus, experience as a way of gathering information and doing, writing, exchanging and performing as both method and dissemination. This research aims to contribute to a better understanding of what work is in our lives. The research has social, artistic and educational targets and target groups, which are also intertwined.