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Elite tactical teams in police and military contexts handle high-risk, complex operations that demand psychological resilience. Their selection, training, and operational strategies continuously drive toward optimized work performance. Character strengths, which guide a person’s actions and behaviors, are one likely factor in work performance. This studyexamines the character strengths prioritized by Swedish Special Intervention Unit officers and compares them with thoseprioritized by Australian Special Operations Forces applicants, operators, and support troops. Using a ranking methodology, 42 Swedish Special Intervention officers identified the character strengths they felt most represented themselvesfrom 24 options. The findings are compared with four Australian Special Forces groups. The results revealed that ‘GoodJudgment,’ followed by ‘Curiosity,’ was the most prominent character strength rated by the Swedish officers. Combiningthe top four ranks, ‘Teamworker’ emerged as the most frequently ranked character strength, followed by ‘Persistence.’The comparative analysis with the Australian Special Operation Forces highlighted significant similarities, suggesting thatsome character strengths, such as ‘Teamworker,’ may be essential across tactical units.

Background: Policing has traditionally been viewed as a masculine domain, which may influence how the job is perceived. While female police officers currently constitute an increasing part of the workforce, policing remains a male-dominated field globally, and gender-related challenges persist. The current study explores how female police officers in Sweden navigate the gendered norms and physical challenges they face.

Methods: Semi-structured and cognitive interviews were conducted with 11 female Swedish police officers. Reflexive thematic analyses, as described by Braun and Clarke, were employed to analyse the data. The methods and results were reported in accordance with qualitative reporting standards.

Results: The findings are presented through one overarching theme: 'Challenges with policing in a man's world: Gendered expectations and physical realities', describing how female officers in Sweden navigate physical and psychological demands in a profession designed for male bodies, finding creative solutions while facing ill-fitting equipment, physical strain, and challenges related to pregnancy and recovery. They also balance their roles as women, romantic partners, and mothers while managing the unique demands of policing and shift work. The results are separated into the following themes: 'Fitting the female body and mind into a traditionally male profession'

and 'The dual identity: A police officer and a woman'.

Conclusion: Swedish female police officers navigate physical demands, gendered expectations, and work–life imbalance in a male-dominated profession. While resourceful in managing these challenges, the findings highlight the need for structural reforms. Even in gender-progressive contexts, women continue to face double burdens and unequal expectations. Hence, the findings serve as applicable both nationally and internationally, and promoting equity and inclusion is crucial for the well-being and sustainability of female officers.

This discussion paper aimed to explore various cross-disciplinary approaches (i.e., multi-disciplinary, inter-disciplinary, trans-disciplinary, and post-disciplinary) employed in occupational science research. By describing how these approaches are applied in sample studies, our discussion paper shows that taking a cross-disciplinary approach can broaden understandings of complex societal issues related to health, well-being, and human behaviour. Although our paper is data-free and non-systematic, we present our reflections to encourage discussion on the topic of cross-disciplinary approaches. We also want to open the dialogue for occupational scientists to consciously choose cross-disciplinary approaches in their occupational science work. This will enhance the potential for groundbreaking and impactful processes and outcomes both in research and practice.

Introduction:Police officers’ occupational patterns and their needs for health promotion are rarely addressed in police health research, partly due to the lack of specific instruments. This study describes the initial steps in developing an instrument that targets officers’ lifestyles and health, utilising occupational therapy and – science.

Method:The study includes 48 participants and uses an instrument development methodology. First, the construct was defined through theoretical dimensions with two focus groups. Second, items were developed and tested during cognitive interviews with 28 officers. Finally, the instrument underwent content validity testing with nine occupational therapists.

Results:The instrument is based on the construct of police officers’ conditions for a sustainable and healthy lifestyle. This refers to an individualised, balanced lifestyle that enables participation, choice and control, supporting healthy routines, roles and meaningful occupations across various life domains shaped by social, occupational and physical environments over time. All domains encompass aspects of working and personal life, and the balance between them.

Conclusion:The instrument’s psychometric properties, representativeness and feasibility need to be continuously evaluated. Subsequently, occupational therapists and human resource personnel may use it to promote police officers’ sustainable lifestyles and life balance as an assessment and a self-reflection tool.

This scoping review explores what is currently understood about how masculinity norms interplay with loneliness and social connectedness among men in a Western context. Human beings inherently need social connections, and this review particularly addresses how traditional masculinity norms—emphasizing independence, emotional stoicism, and pain endurance—can increase vulnerability to loneliness and insufficient social connections. The review followed the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) methodology for scoping reviews and systematically assessed the literature published between September 2013 and September 2023. Initial literature searches were conducted using multiple databases, including EBSCO and PubMed. Of the 1,730 articles identified, 13 studies met the inclusion criteria and were quality assessed. Results show that men often formed social connections through productive activities. Still, these connections were restricted by conflicting masculine ideals such as self-reliance, which could be prioritized over social and emotional support. Masculine bonds were often formed and strengthened through collectively rejecting diversity. Nevertheless, there were some narratives where participants attempted to redefine masculinity to access permission to care and connect. This review highlights the urgent need for cultural and societal reevaluation of gender norms to support men’s social connectedness. This shift could reduce stigma around emotional vulnerability and in turn men’s opportunities for health and well-being.

Background: The concept of an occupational pattern in occupational therapy and occupational science has evolved with varying definitions, ranging from activity patterns to patterns of daily occupation.AimsThis study aimed to explore the concept of occupational pattern, develop an updated definition of the concept, and theoretically validate the concept’s definition.

Method: Walker and Avant’s concept analysis method was used, where both theoretical frameworks and peer-reviewed scientific literature were searched and synthesized to clarify and define the concept. Furthermore, seven occupational therapists theoretically validated the concept.

Findings: The analysis included forty-nine references from various research contexts and theoretical perspectives. The synthesis yielded a conceptualization of the concept of occupational pattern, outlining it into three overarching categories: ‘content in an individual’s occupational pattern’, ‘designing an occupational pattern’, and ‘balancing the occupational pattern’.

Implications: An updated operational definition of the multifaceted concept of an occupational pattern now exists, with practical implications for enhancing the education of occupational therapy students and guiding the utilization of the concept. Moreover, it holds significance for instrument development and outcome measurement in research; especially in lifestyle intervention studies within the field of occupational therapy.

Background: The police profession is a high-strain and high-risk profession, sometimes resulting in poor physical, mental and social health. This systematic review aims to identify and describe crucial areas for a healthy and sustainable lifestyle among patrolling police officers in Europe, an area not previously studied.

Methods: The review was conducted according to the PRISMA guidelines. A protocol was published and registered with PROSPERO beforehand. Searches were carried out in eight databases. Two independent authors screened articles and critically appraised the included studies. A narrative synthesis was conducted to analyse the results. The review’s total body of evidence was assessed with GRADE-CERQaul.

Results: A total of 16 articles were located, representing 13 studies. Barriers and resources for a healthy and sustainable lifestyle were linked to a theoretical framework of life balance. Subsequently, a linkage model was created to explain different aspects of patrolling police officers’ life balance and its relation to health (physical, social and mental).

Conclusions: Several crucial areas for a healthy and sustainable lifestyle were found and described, indicating that patrolling officers’ working life affects their possibilities of living a balanced lifestyle, which might disturb different aspects of health, depending on which aspect is compromised.

Previous research has widely recognized the challenges uniformed police officers face in their working lives. However, little is known about the overall lifestyles of police officers, including what they do in private life. We interviewed 17 officers and used reflexive thematic analysis to explore their experiences. The study sheds light on how uniformed police officers navigate the intersection between their private and professional lives, as well as how their professional role impacts their day-to-day doings and private life roles. The key findings relate to how the demands of their professional role impact their private life, such as the profession becoming a way of life. Furthermore, they highlight the challenges of avoiding certain environments where they might be recognized as police officers. It also entails balancing energy levels in work and private life, as well as how their profession’s unpredictability affects their daily routines and roles. The findings also show how their personal choices in private life are frequently influenced by their professional role. The study’s findings have theoretical as well as practical implications, contributing to a better understanding of uniformed police officers’ challenges and resources for a sustainable and healthy lifestyle.

Introduction: Being a frontline police officer is regarded to be one of the most high-strain professions in the world, encompassing physical, emotional and cognitive stressors. These stressors may cause ill health, physically, mentally and socially, impacting both professional and private life roles and everyday activities. Despite this, there has been limited consideration of the broader complexities of police officers’ lifestyles. Thus, the primary aim of this thesis was to identify health promoters and health challenges within the lifestyles of frontline police officers using a transactional perspective. The secondary aim was to translate these findings into the initial developmental stages of an instrument targeting critical areas of police officers’ lifestyles to foster health sustainability.

Method: The thesis includes four studies. In Study I, a method for scoping reviews was used when gathering data from previously conducted studies within Europe. Studies II and III were qualitative studies using in-depth interviews. In Study II a reflexive thematic analysis was used, whereas in Study III qualitative content analysis was utilized. Study IV builds on data from the other studies. During the early development process of the instrument focus groups, cognitive interviewing methods and a content validity approach were undertaken.

Findings: Altogether, the findings offer insights into how police officers’ lifecontexts, roles and everyday activities transact to become their unique lifestyles. In Study I the life contexts affecting police officers’ lives and health were mapped. It was concluded that research on police officers’ private lives is limited in Europe, despite contextual and environmental influences on their lives and health. In Studies II and III it was found that balancing work with private-life activities and roles included health challenges and resources. The findings relate to balancing risk and violence with vigilance in private life, societal attitudes with the police identity, work with healthy routines and habits, and unpredictability with stability. Study IV took initial steps towards crafting a self-reflection instrument targeting the essential conditions for living a sustainable and healthy lifestyle asa police officer.

Conclusion: This thesis illuminates the complex interplay of factors that definethe unique lifestyles of police officers, influenced by their life contexts, roles, and everyday activities. It highlights the importance of both organizational strategies and police officers utilizing health-promoting strategies in maintaining asustainable lifestyle essential for fostering health sustainability. In the context of societal challenges and the need for a strong police force, maintaining police officers’ health sustainability is crucial for the benefit of both the Police Authority and society.

Introduktion: Att vara polis i yttre tjänst anses vara ett av de mest påfrestande yrkena i världen, med avseende på de fysiska, emotionella och kognitiva stressfaktorer som yrket innebär. Dessa stressorer kan leda till ohälsa, både fysiskt, mentalt och socialt, vilket kan påverka både professionella och privata roller och vardagsaktiviteter. Dock har väldigt lite gjorts för att närma sig den komplexitet som finns gällande polisers livsstil. Därför var det primära syftet med avhandlingen att identifiera hälsopromotorer och hälsoutmaningar gällande livsstil hos poliser i yttre tjänst, utifrån ett transaktionellt perspektiv. Det sekundära syftet var att översätta dessa fynd till de inledande stegen i utvecklingen av ett instrument, som fokuserar på kritiska områden avseende polisers livsstil för att främja hållbarhet gällande deras hälsa.

Metod: Avhandlingen omfattar fyra studier. I Studie I användes en metod för översiktsstudier där data samlades från tidigare genomförda studier i Europa. Studierna II-III var kvalitativa studier med djupintervjuer. I Studie II användes en reflexiv tematisk analys, medan kvalitativ innehållsanalys användes i Studie III. Studie IV bygger på data från övriga studier. Under de första faserna i utvecklingen av instrumentet användes fokusgrupper, kognitiva intervjuer och en innehållsvalideringsmetod.

Resultat: Sammantaget ger resultaten insikt i hur polisers livskontexter, roller och aktiviteter växelverkar för att bli deras unika livsstilar. I Studie I kartlades hur polisernas livskontexter påverkar deras liv och hälsa. Slutsatsen var att forskning om polisers privata liv är begränsad i Europa, trots den påverkan som kontext och miljö har på deras liv och hälsa. I Studierna II och III upptäcktes att balansen mellan polisernas arbete, samt aktiviteter och roller i privatlivet innebar både utmaningar och resurser för hälsan. Resultaten är kopplade till hur de balanserar risk och våld med vaksamhet i privatlivet, samhällets attityder med polisidentiteten, sitt arbete med hälsosamma rutiner och vanor, samt oförutsägbarhet med stabilitet. I Studie IV togs de initiala steg i utformningen av ett instrument för självreflektion som fokuserar på de grundläggande förutsättningarna för att leva en hållbar och hälsosam livsstil som polis.

Konklusion: Denna avhandling belyser den komplexa interaktion av faktorer som definierar polisers unika livsstilar, påverkade av deras livskontexter, roller och vardagsaktiviteter. Den belyser vikten av organisatoriska strategier, såväl som polisers hälsofrämjande strategier i att upprätthålla en hållbar livsstil viktig för att främja hållbarhet gällande hälsa. I ljuset av samhällsutmaningar och behovet av en stark poliskår är upprätthållande av polisers hållbarhet gällande hälsa av yttersta vikt, både för Polismyndigheten och samhället.

Background: Patrolling police officers engage in different mentally, socially, and physically challenging life contexts which may affect their life and health. The aim of this scoping review is twofold, to explore life contexts of patrolling officers in the European Union, and to investigate how their lives and health are affected by environmental characteristics within these contexts.

Methods: The scoping review followed Arksey and O’Malley’s methodology and included a critical appraisal. The environmental model within Kielhofner’s Model of Human Occupation was used in the thematic analysis. The review was reported following PRISMA-ScR.

Results: In the 16 included studies, two contexts (where environments interact with persons on different levels) were discovered: the global and the immediate context. No local contexts were found. Primarily, research on the social, and occupational environments, including qualities identified in these environments were found. However, some environmental characteristics within patrolling officers’ physical environments were also discovered.

Discussion: This review contributes to the emerging research area of police officers’ life contexts, by mapping contexts and environments affecting their life and health. However, to get a deeper understanding of how officers are affected by their environments, interviewing them regarding how their different contexts affect their everyday living, would be important.