Job satisfaction of occupational therapists in the public health sector, Free State Province

[摘要] English: The aim of this study was to investigate the job satisfaction status of occupationaltherapists in the Public Health Sector (PHS) of the Free State (FS). For the purpose ofthis study, job satisfaction referred to the occupational therapist's perception of thefulfillment and gratification experienced while doing their work within the context of thePHS.A scientific inquiry was instigated to assess and address the job satisfaction ofoccupational therapists in the PHS of which the researcher, at the time of the study, waspart. Employees of the PHS at that time seemed to suffer from low morale and thefrequency with which occupational therapists became disillusioned with either theprofession or the PHS was worrisome.The investigation was conducted by making use of multiple research methods namelyquestionnaires for the quantitative typical descriptive study design and semi-structuredinterviews for the qualitative phenomenological study design. Electronic selfadministrativequestionnaires were distributed to all the occupational therapists in theservice of the Free State Department of Health in November 2008. Thirty-five (n=35)questionnaires were used for the analysis of quantitative data. In augmentation to thisbase-line data gathered, semi-structured interviews with an opening question and aninterview schedule were conducted among fifteen occupational therapists practicing inthe PHS of the FS between November and December 2008.The thirty-five respondents in the quantitative investigation, as well as the sixteenparticipants in the semi-structured interviews, represented a largely homogenous groupof white, Afrikaans-speaking females on senior, chief and assistant manager level.Community service occupational therapists who had already completed at least sixmonths' tenure were also included. Only occupational therapists directly involved inclinical services were eligible to participate in the study. The results of the study showed that the occupational therapists in the PHS of the FSexperienced low levels of job satisfaction. This was found to be in contrast with mostother studies conducted on the job satisfaction of occupational therapists in other partsof the world.This disparity was clarified when the contextual factors of the PHS such as; inadequateresources, excessive red-tape, poor management and an undesirable workingenvironment were configured. The results and findings showed that the afore-mentionedfacets were sources of dissatisfaction for the participants and consequently increasedtheir job dissatisfaction. More so however, the main causes of the occupationaltherapists dissatisfaction were; the low status of occupational therapy as a professionand poor salary. Inadequate career-paths and disillusionment with the currentperformance appraisal system of the PHS added to further dissatisfaction for theparticipants in this study.The main source of the occupational therapists' satisfaction with the job was that ofworking with people, making a difference and experiencing success with clients.Secondary facets of satisfaction were the relationships colleagues had with each other,inherent characteristics of the profession such as autonomy, creativity, diversity and to alesser degree some advantages to working in the PHS such as fringe benefits andjob/income security.In conclusion it was found that the job satisfaction status of the occupational therapistsin the PHS of the FS was low. This was mainly due to the influence of contextual factorsand not with regards to profession itself. As was the last objective of the study,extensive recommendations were made to redress the balance between job satisfactionand dissatisfaction for this population.

[发布机构] University of the Free State