In this intensive and final period of writing the thesis, I have been like a lone sailor, close to the wind, focusing on trying to stay in control of the course as well as the sails and ropes, and aided by satellite contact with my steady and reliable co-workers in Göteborg, Stockholm, and Frösön. For short periods I have put into port and derived sustenance from those in my close surround-ings, whose supportive cheers gave new energy. Those who have known me for a long time have probably been amazed that such a sociable and outgoing person could become so withdrawn and resolutely focused on reaching her goal. Even if I now and then have wished for fair winds, to relax and reflect, it has nevertheless been an interesting experience, and a privilege, to have had the opportunity to become so totally immersed in my work.
It is in light of this that I write my acknowledgements.
First of all I would like to thank all the 31 engaged and loyal women at Öre-bro University Hospital who willingly and trustfully shared their experiences about work and about life. Without my informants the research findings could never have been achieved.
The realisation of the study also depended on the hospital’s personnel man-ager Ove Petersson and the heads of the involved departments, who willingly opened the doors to the research field and entrusted me with the task of fol-lowing the staff after the heavy downsizing wave in the middle of the 1990s.
The next person who made this research possible was my main supervisor Töres Theorell who supported the idea from the beginning. It is a real pleas-ure to work with Töres, who is unique with his comprehensive mind and in-terest in every perspective of public health and stress. I am also grateful for the quick and expert feedback I have received in the tough process of learning to write scientific articles in English.
Logically, Töres’ research group is comprehensive, with Peggy Bernin study-ing managers’ stress, Gabriel Oxenstierna and Hugo Westerlund job insecu-rity, Hans Petter Söndergaard and Reza Emdad posttraumatic stress, Yvonne Liljeholm-Johansson orchestra musicians, and Annica Kempe experiences of childbirth among Yemeni women. We have gathered around Töres, and we have had to make an effort to get involved in each other’s research questions, which has been useful. Thanks for all those Monday mornings! And special
thanks to Peggy for the extra exchanges of ideas concerning our common interest in the health care organisation.
My thanks are also due to my employer during these years: The National In-stitute for Psychosocial Factors and Health (IPM). As a teleworker coming and going from Örebro, I have always received a warm welcome, and many hands have shown their willingness to help; Special thanks to the administra-tive team with Bosse Gigel, Veronica Grenhagen, Anette Hedberg, Maria Johansson, Lillemor Katz, Louise Nordenskiöld, and Jan Westermark. Also to my ’neighbours’ on the second floor, where I have appreciated the company of Frank Lindblad, who has offered exclusive and freshly brewed tea and nice lunch times with his team members, of whom I especially changed experi-ences with Eva Jonzon and Clara Gumpert.
The next person who made this research possible was my supervisor Ullabeth Sätterlund Larsson at the Institute of Health Care Pedagogics in Gothenburg.
Ullabeth was my special guide concerning qualitative research methods; she taught me to be more precise in scientific writing, and that as an interviewer I must leave my old teaching role behind. Ullabeth’s fighting spirit and won-derful laugh has inspired me on many occasions.
Thanks to Ullabeth I got to know Kerstin Nilsson, who for all these years has been my co-doctoral student, co-interpreter and co-writer. Kerstin is a real pillar of strength, and from our different perspectives we have been able to enrich the analysis of the interviews. She has therefore been invaluable in critical reading of manuscripts, and also in helping me to apply the finishing touches to the thesis layout
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Inga-Lill Pettersson, from the Department of Occupational and Environ-mental Health, Stockholm County Council, has also been an inspiring and teaching co-writer in the third trend study. It is thanks to Inga-Lill’s insight into the hospital, as well as her ability and determination to manage the myr-iad of measurements and computer runs that we reached our goal.
Thanks to my editor and linguistic advisor Hilary Hocking it is possible for an outsider to read this thesis. She has succeeded in turning my ’swenglish’ into British English, and I am impressed by her ability to make the text clearer.
Receiving e-mails with feedback from Hilary in her ‘writing workshop’ on
tolerant towards my coming and going as an eternal part-time worker. I am grateful to Lena Kördel, who has willingly carried out all the financial trans-actions; to Ingmarie Arvidsson, who has been helpful in drawing figures; and to Lars Ekholm, for always solving computer problems in moments of des-peration. My special gratitude is due to Lars Hagberg, with his superb skills in managing all the complicated personnel statistics from the hospital for the fifth article; and to Carina Persson, who was a statistical supervisor for the first physiological article. She was also a motivating coach for the statistical learners Sirkka Elo, Anne Marie Wallin and myself entering the Svensson course at Örebro University. That was an intense period!
To include the history I will attend to the first dynamic social medicine team in Örebro- with my ex- husband and co-worker Margus Mägi, and Charli Eriksson, Gunilla Fahlström, Sven Larsson, Marie Montin, and Anna Swift-Johannison- thanks for all rewarding discussions and good old times.
Finally we come to the third and latest part-time workplace – ‘Stressforum’ at the Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, Örebro Univer-sity Hospital. Lilian Litzell from the Social Insurance Board in Örebro has been the coach for the development of this resource centre. I also wish to ex-press my acknowledgement to the stress-team including Kristina Claesson, Lars-Gunnar Gunnarsson, Liselotte Hjort, Eva-Britt Hult, and Karin Lind-blom, for constructive and intense discussions about our common work. I would particularly like to thank Lars-Gunnar, who generously helped me to gain a deeper understanding of psychobiological systems thinking, and to Eva-Britt who became a new loyal friend even outside work.
I also wish to express my sincere gratitude to everyone who in different ways has been supportive during this period:
Cecilia Berge, Marianne Botvalde, Nina Buer, Eva Hällvik, and Ingrid Pincus for their invaluable friendship and all our ‘walks and talks’ about vital ques-tions throughout the years. They really are a home base in Örebro.
Special thanks to Ingrid, who has inspired me right up to the conclusion of this thesis, when we realised that we from now on would try to combine our respective affiliations in public health and political science, for our common interest in questions concerning women, health and equality.
Tina Hallman, my colleague and discussion partner at ‘Myntet’, for her criti-cal reading and constructive comments on the discussion of the findings, and for her energy in contributing understanding and being a coach in the latter phase of this work.
Gunnel Ahlberg, who readily acted as an informal opponent on the third nurs-ing article, and Ingvar Lundberg who at short notice acted as an examiner.
Both gave useful points of views.
Elisabet Sjögren, my old neighbour in Rynninge, who rapidly wrote all the interview manuscripts early in the mornings before her ordinary work, and sent comments with her subtle humour.
Many thanks to all helpful librarians at the medical library at Örebro Univer-sity Hospital giving quick and professional assistance to a frequent visitor.
And to Ian Jones and his co-workers, who carried out all the laboratory work in a supportive way, and to Lars Lindkvist, Lars Söderström, Anders Bertebo, Åsa Thor-Gustafsson, who readily distributed administrative personnel statis-tics, and to Hasse Zettergren and Lars Berggren, who gave their view about what happened at RSÖ/USÖ during the 1990s.
A special credit to Marianne Omne Pontén, my old neighbour in Umeå, who made so many of the arrangements around the oral defence of the thesis, from her platform at the Centre for Clinical research, Dalarna.
This research project has been supported by grants from the Swedish Foundation for Health Care Sciences and Allergy Research, AFA Insurance Foundation, and the Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research (FAS). The research project was further financially supported by the Department of community medi-cine, Örebro County Council, and the Stress Unit, Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Örebro University Hospital.
The feeling of being part of a close circle of family and friends spread out over the country from Umeå to Helsingborg, who were there long before this work started, and will be there for a long time afterwards, has constituted a safe and secure base in my ever changing life. My sincere thanks to all those near and dear, with whom I share my history. Although my parents Kerstin and Magnus have passed away I would like to direct a special ‘thank you’ to them for their sense of commitment, which lives on in all their seven grand-children, among them my two really great, and loyal sons, Johan and Erik Mägi. The moments I spend with them are the ones I treasure most.