Psychology of Health and Quality of Work Life

Recommended Prerequisites

Não aplicável.

Teaching Methods

Lecture; active methodologies. Evaluation: individual and group work with oral presentation.

Learning Outcomes

• To identify the role of Psychology in promoting the quality of life at work and their contributions in the field of occupational health;
• To understand and critically analyze the main theories and the empirical research of the impact of the atmosphere at the workplace in the health and well-being of workers;
• To know the main models and results of empirical research related to occupational stress and associated physical and psychological disorders;
• To describe the different prevention programs;
• To identify the key factors of security and risk and that are associated with accidents at work;
• To describe the physical and psychological consequences of accidents at work;
• To recognize forms of organization and characteristics of work that contribute to a better quality of life;
• To explain the genesis and understand the importance of what might be called "positive" organizational behavior;
• To identify different programs and models that promote well-being in the organizational context and explain its relevance today.

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

1. Main theories and models of Psychology that deal with the quality of life at work and occupational health.
a. Work stress: models and intervention actions.
b. Consequences for the individual: psychosomatic complaints and burnout syndrome.
c. Stress at work (individual and collective), fatigue and mental overload.
2. Stressors at work.
a. Risks of work.
b. Technology and work conditions.
c. Temporal organization of work.
d. Work / family relationship.
e. Job insecurity and unemployment.
3. Psychological intervention actions in work-related stress
a. individual
b. organizational
4. Quality of Life at Work: Concept and theories.
a. Overview of models and projects QWL.
b. The American movement for quality of life at work and the European movement for industrial democracy.
c. Forms of organization of work, autonomy, participation and influence of workers.
d. European programs, employee involvement, innovation and partnerships at work.
e. Intensive involvement of organizations, human-friendly technologies and friendly forms of organization.
f. Satisfaction, motivation and the meaning of work.
5. Well-being of workers: antecedents and consequences.
a. The concept of "engagement" at work.
b. Positive organizational behavior.

Head Lecturer(s)

Carla Maria Santos Carvalho

Assessment Methods

Continuous evaluation
Evaluation: individual and group work with oral presentation: 100.0%

Bibliography

Gospel, H (2003) Quality of working life: A review on changes in work organization,conditions of employment & work-life arrangements. Conditions of Work and Employment Series, n1 Intern. labour office http://www.ilo.org/public/english/protection/condtrav/pdf/1cws.pdf enero 2005

Schabracq,M.J.(2003):Everyday Well-Being and Stress in Work and Organisations(pp.9-36) In M.J.Maslach,C., Schaufeli, W.B. & Leiter, M.P. (2001).Job burnout. Annual review Psyc., 52,397-422

Sonnentag,S. & Frese,M.(2003).Stress in Organizations. In C. Borman, Daniel R. Ilgen, Richard J. Klimoski (Eds). Handbook of Psychology, v. 12. Ind.& Org. Psyc. New Jersey: J.W. & S

De Lange, A.H.;Taris, T.W.;Kompier, M.A.J.;Houtman, I.L.D. & Bongers,P.M.(2004). The relationship between work characteristics and mental health: Examining normal, reversed and reciprocal relationships in a 4-wave study. Work & Stress,18:149-166