The Institute for Work & Health (IWH) is a Canadian leader in work injury and disability prevention research. An independent, not-for-profit organization, IWH conducts and shares actionable research to promote, protect and improve the health and safety of working people.
Levels of anxiety and depression are higher when workers feel they lack COVID-19 protection on the job. That's according to a study of Canadian workers not in health-care, a second in a pair of studies conducted by the Institute for Work & Health (IWH) and Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers (OHCOW) in the early months of the pandemic. Mental health was even poorer among essential workers who said they had no protection at work than among those who had lost their jobs since the start of the pandemic, according to this second study.
How have trends in cannabis use changed among workers in Canada since the substance was legalized for recreational purposes in 2018? Findings from the first two surveys of an ongoing IWH project on this question are now available in an infographic.
Two fellowship programs at the Institute for Work & Health are now accepting applications. The post-doctoral Mustard Fellowship in Work and Health, a two-year appointment for researchers at the post-doctoral level, is open until Friday, December 4. Applications are also being accepted for the S. Leonard Syme Training Fellowship in Work and Health, aimed at early-career researchers at the master's or doctoral level. The deadline for this program is Friday, November 27. Details on submission criteria are on our Opportunities page.
Research has shown that people with arthritis face difficulties finding work and staying at work. Now, a new study finds that the risks of work disability are even greater for people with arthritis and depressive symptoms—people who account for one in eight working-age adults in the U.S. The IWH study, based on a nationally representative U.S. survey, has been published in Arthritis Care and Research.
Although early death rates have fallen for nearly all socioeconomic groups in Canada, they're falling faster for some more than others. A new study by Dr. Faraz Vahid Shahidi, IWH Mustard post-doctoral fellow, finds inequalities in premature mortality have widened over 25 years between people with the highest and lowest income and education levels.
IN THE CURRENT ISSUE...
People who felt unprotected from COVID-19 at work had poorer mental health—even poorer than people who had lost their jobs during the pandemic
Depressive symptoms, more prevalent among people with arthritis than in the general population, raise the risks of work disability for those with both conditions
Gaps in rates of early death are widening in Canada between people with the highest and lowest levels of education and income
Integrate evidence-based policies and practices into your occupational health and safety, return-to-work and rehabilitation programs. IWH has created a number of tools and guides based on our research findings that can help improve program outcomes.
Find out how IWH research is making a difference. Read our impact case studies, in which policy-makers, workplaces and other stakeholders in health, safety and disability prevention tell how IWH research helped improve their policies, programs and practices.
Whether it’s a policy briefing, a systematic review summary or the highlights of a specific research project, we’ve compiled a number of plain-language summaries to help you understand the research we’re doing, what we have found, and how we found it.
Learn directly from the researchers themselves about their latest findings in health, safety and disability prevention. We host regular presentations (in person or live stream) through our IWH Speaker Series and our annual Nachemson lecture.