Stress, work and health
We are specialized in investigating how occupational exposures and psychological stress, particularly among adults and in midlife, affect health and labour market outcomes. Furthermore, our research addresses the psycho-physiological mechanisms linking occupational exposures and stress with disease.
Our research aims:
- improve health and well-being of the working and retired population and
- address social inequality in health. We strive to make occupational health a part of the broader public health agenda, and enlighten the public, occupational health professionals, and authorities.
"The workplace has a huge potential as an arena for primary, secondary and tertiary prevention. We contribute to the evidence-based knowledge supporting the efforts to improve public health through workplace interventions, regulations, and information campaigns." Kirsten Nabe-Nielsen, research group leader.
The overall objective of the MEMORIA project is to investigate how occupational exposures, psychological stress and migraine in midlife affect the risk of dementia in older age.
With the longer life expectancy, there are increasing expectations of stayinglonger at the labour market and living an active life also in older age. However, many people above the age of 60 years are affected by dementia. The causes of dementia are still poorly understood, and there is no cure. Therefore, the scientific literature calls for long-term follow-up studies identifying modifiable midlife risk factors, which may prevent or postpone the onset of dementia.
Night work, psychosocial work factors, psychological stress and migraine could be risk factors for dementia mediated through behavioural factors and cardio- and cerebrovascular diseases. The MEMORIA project will provide new knowledge on modifiable dementia risk factors contributing to the preservation of cognitive function, work ability, quality of life, and life expectancy of the Danish population.
Collaboration
- The National Research Centre for the Working Environment
- The Danish Knowledge Center for Headache
- The National Dementia Research Center
- Center for Healty Aging
MEMORIA I is funded by The Danish Working Environment Research Fund, and MEMORIA II is funded by VELUXFONDEN
The overall aim of our research is to investigate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on emotional reactions to the pandemic, social relations at work, and social stigmatization among frontline employees.
Currently, we are investigating teachers at public schools and employees, working within eldercare, ambulance service, psychiatry, childcare, and rehabilitation.
COLLABORATION
This research is carried out as a collaboration between researchers at the Section of Social Medicine, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen and labor unions (FOA and Danmarks Lærerforening).
PUBLICATIONS
Kirsten Nabe-Nielsen, Inge Larsen, Nina Vibe Fuglsang, Charlotte Juul Nilsson: CLASS - Folkeskolelæreres arbejdsmiljø under COVID-19: Udfordringer og mulige løsninger baseret på erfaringer fra juni 2020, Københavns Universitet, København, februar 2021.
Kirsten Nabe-Nielsen, Nina Vibe Fuglsang, Inge Larsen, Charlotte Juul Nilsson: CLASS - Folkeskolelæreres arbejdsmiljø under anden bølge af COVID-19-pandemien i Danmark, Københavns Universitet, København, januar 2021.
Kirsten Nabe-Nielsen, Charlotte Juul Nilsson, Maria Juul-Madsen, Charlotte Bredal, Lars Ole Preisler Hansen, Åse Marie Hansen: COVID-19 risk management at the workplace, fear of infection and fear of transmission of infection among frontline employees, Occup Environ Med 2020. Link to summary in Danish.
Kirsten Nabe-Nielsen, Inge Larsen, Nina Vibe Fuglsang, Charlotte Juul Nilsson: CLASS – et forskningsprojekt om COVID-19’s betydning for Læreres Arbejdsmiljø, Sammenhold og Smitteoplevelse, Københavns Universitet, København, oktober 2020. Link to summary in Danish.
OTHER DISSEMINATION
TV2 Bornholm: Bornholms Lærerforening - De savner gamle dage
Podcast about fear of infection among frontline staff and "zoom fatigue" among knowledge workers: Psychology in times of Corona" (In Danish: "Psykologi i coronaens tid”), Radio4, 23 December 2020
Public Health News, November 2020, Working environment among frontline employees during the COVID-19 pandemic in Denmark
Mit Arbejdsmiljø, August 2020, 10-15, Med COVID-19 på skoleskemaet
Mit Arbejdsmiljø, August 2020, 8-9, COVID-19 påvirker frontlinjemedarbejdere følelsesmæssigt
Headache is one of the most frequent health complaints. In spite of that, surprisingly few studies have investigated the causes and consequences of headache in an occupational health perspective.
Together with our collaborators we are initiating projects on causes and consequences of headache among employees in Denmark. Furthermore, we are exploring the possibilities for interventions in the workplace in order to mitigate the consequences of headache on sickness absence and work ability.
Collaboration
- The Danish Knowledge Center for Headache
- The National Research Centre for the Working Environment
- The Danish Committee for Health Education
We have a strong interest in the shift work-related health problems and how to organize shift work in order to avoid physiological and psychological stress.
We engage in the following activities:
- The DAD-database
- Working time, accidents and heart disease (based on Work-force database/ in Danish: Arbejdskraftundersøgelsen)
Collaboration
- National Research Centre for the Working Environment
- The Danish Cancer Society
- Danish Ramazzini Centre, Department of Occupational Medicine, Aarhus University Hospital
- Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen
- Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, BBH Hospital
The most devastating forms of negative social relations at work are exposure to bullying, harassment, and negative acts. It is well-known that these exposures are all highly associated with psychological and physiological stress reactions and may therefore potentially lead to sickness absence, change of job, and unemployment. However, little is known about the antecedent processes (organisational factors and job characteristics) leading to negative social relations and the mechanisms through which negative social relations cause sickness absence, change of job, and unemployment.
This study will contribute with substantial new knowledge at individual and organisational levels about how negative social relations may develop and lead to long-term sickness absence, change of job, and unemployment. Knowledge of these processes and mechanisms is useful in future management and prevention of negative social relations at work.
We investigate the mechanisms through which negative social relations at work predict sickness absence, change of job, and unemployment. More specifically, our research investigates whether different measures of stress mediates the effects of negative social relations on sickness absence, change of job and unemployment. Stress is operationalized as poor sleep, psychological stress reactions and cortisol measured in saliva.
Collaboration
- Department of psychology at the University of Copenhagen
- The National Research Centre for the Working Environment
The research activities are supported by The Danish Working Environment Research Fund and The Danish Council for Independent Research
The overall aim of the project is to develop evidence-based models and solutions related to working hours to support health, well-being and work participation among employees in the Nordic countries. The project will create working time –related solutions especially to women and ageing workers who often have challenging working hours. Among these groups, the role of work-life balance and health, which are the key determinants of well-being at work, will be studied as horizontal key concepts in this study.
Finally, the project creates and tests both individual and organizational level interventions related to working hours in shift work, boundary less work and safety-critical 24/7 industries to promote health, well-being and work participation with the focus on women and older workers.
Collaboration:
- Project manager: Finnish Institute of Occupational Health (FIOH). Team leader Prof. Mikko Härmä.
- University of Tampere (UT), School of Social Sciences and Humanities, Finland. Team leader Prof. Jouko Nätti.
- University of Stockholm, Stress Research Centre (SRC), Sweden. Team leader Ass. Prof. Göran Kecklund.
- Karolinska Institute (KI), Department of Neuroscience, Sweden. Team leader Prof. Torbjörn Åkerstedt.
- National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH), Norway. Team leader Dr. Janny-Anne S. Lie.
- University of Bergen (UB), Department of Public Health, Norway. Team leader Prof. Bjørn Bjorvatn.
- National Research Centre on Working Environment (NRCWE), Denmark. Team leader Prof. Anne Helene Garde.
- University of Copenhagen (UC), Denmark. Team leader Prof. Åse Marie Hansen.
- Aarhus University, Denmark (AU). Team leader Prof. Henrik Kolstad.
- Danish Cancer Society (DCS), Denmark. Team leader Dr. Johnny Hansen.
The WOW project is funded by NordForsk, Nordic Program on Health and Welfare [grant number 74809]
Our research group is represented in the steering committee of the Copenhagen Stress Research Center, for which the overall purpose is to implement and support an interinstitutional collaboration on stress research. The center is a research collaboration between the National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Department of Occupational Medicine and Department of Public Health.
For more informationvisit stressresearch.ku.dk/
Do you want to join our research group, for example, as part of your PhD project? Then, you are welcome to contact us with specific ideas for research or data that you would like to work with. On the basis of your ideas, we will discuss the specific content, organization and timing of your stay in our group.
We also welcome engaged and enthusiastic students who would like to stay as an intern in our research group as part of their education. You will work in a friendly atmosphere and take part in the everyday life of the research group. As an intern in our research group, your tasks will normally consist of activities related to research, teaching, and administration. The specific content will be organized together with you in order to meet your and the research group’s interests.
You can contact research leader Kirsten Nabe-Nielsen (nabe@sund.ku.dk) for more information.
Below you can read about the experiences of former interns.
Kathrine Vingum Møller Olesen, Master of Public Health student
“I have learned a lot about research and how challenging it can be to convey research findings to lay persons. An internship at Stress, Work and Health holds a great opportunity to apply theoretical knowledge and methods in practice."
You can read the report and fact sheet that Kathrine wrote as an intern here
Andreas Moses Appel, Master of Public Health student
“In summary, my internship at the section represented a unique possibility to experience many of the aspects of working in a research department. The people in the research group, and the section in general, were very welcoming and supportive during my entire stay, which made the experience even more enjoyable.”
You can see the poster that Andreas presented at an international symposium on Working hours In the Nordic Country here.
Research Group Leader
Kirsten Nabe-Nielsen
Associate Professor
Email: nabe@sund.ku.dk
Phone:+45 35 32 73 78
Members
| Name | Title | Phone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Appel, Andreas Moses | Teaching assistant | +45 353-36428 | |
| Hansen, Åse Marie | Professor | +45 353-27956 | |
| Nabe-Nielsen, Kirsten | Associate professor | +45 353-27378 | |
| Steenberg, Josephine Lyngh | Guest researcher |