Desire, longing and vanity: Emotions behind successful return to work for women on long-term sick leave

Objective: The purpose of this study is to identify situations and phenomena that have simplified returning to work for women on long-term sick leave. Participants: Seven women who were exposed to a relatively large number of risk factors that normally are associated with difficulties in returning to work. Methods: In-depth interviews with qualitative content analysis. Results: The analysis indicated four main categories of factors: The Individual, Interactions, Surrounding Resources, and Situations. In each of the main categories structural factors exist and it appears that these have been of significant importance to the women in their return to work. These are presented as Key Factors and they are: clarification of - and the need for - support in the personal process of change; desire, longing, and vanity; respectful interactions between the individual and people in her surroundings; the structure and content of the rehabilitation clinic; the importance of the perceived reality; and the individual's sense of control during the work related rehabilitation process. Conclusions: The results mostly revealed phenomena that have been indicated and described in earlier research studies. However, emotions such as desire, longing and vanity as motivation and driving forces behind a return to work have not been earlier described.