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IWH Speaker Series
Health-care providers and their role in return to work
Agnieszka Kosny, Institute for Work & Health
Research around the world has shown that health-care providers have a key role in the return-to-work (RTW) process. However, pressure on consultation time, administrative challenges and limited knowledge about a patient’s workplace can thwart meaningful engagement. In a two-year study conducted in four Canadian provinces, Dr. Agnieszka Kosny focused on the experiences of health-care providers within the workers’ compensation system and their role in the RTW process. She shares her findings in this plenary.
IWH Speaker Series
Life course concepts in the work experiences of people with arthritis
Arif Jetha, Institute for Work & Health
Arthritis is one of the most common causes of work disability in Canada. Among those with arthritis, three in five are in their working years (ages 18 to 65 years). Yet, little research has looked into the work experiences of young and middle-aged adults with arthritis. In this plenary, Dr. Arif Jetha shares his research examining the impact of important life transitions on the work experiences of young, middle-aged and older adults with arthritis.
IWH Speaker Series
Return to work not a single event: applying new methods and data to understand RTW
Christopher McLeod, Institute for Work & Health
Returning to work after a work injury can be a complex process involving multiple episodes of time-loss. In this plenary, Dr. Christopher McLeod looks at newly available detailed calendar data on RTW among injured workers with accepted time-loss claims in British Columbia. He outlines how this data can be used to identify distinct clusters of RTW trajectories and highlights key demographic, clinical and work characteristics that may be associated with shorter and/or longer and more complex trajectories. He also explores the relevance of these data and methods in identifying effective interventions that can improve RTW outcomes.
IWH Speaker Series
Managing safety and operations: The effect of joint management system practices on safety and operational outcomes
Lynda Robson, Institute for Work & Health
Can best practices in manufacturing and occupational safety be complementary or even synergistic? Or is there necessarily a trade-off between the two? What practices are important for achieving high performance in both manufacturing operations and safety? Dr. Lynda Robson presents results from an inter-disciplinary mixed-method research project. She highlights the “joint management system practices” associated with positive effects on both operational outcomes (e.g. product quality) and safety outcomes.
IWH Speaker Series
What are physicians told about their role in return to work?
Agnieszka Kosny, Institute for Work & Health
Physicians have an important role in the return to work (RTW) process, but research shows that they sometimes struggle to manage RTW consultations and help patients return to work after an injury. As part of a broader exploration into the role played by doctors in RTW, an IWH team led by Dr. Agnieszka Kosny sought to examine resources, policies and guidelines that have been developed for physicians by workers’ compensation boards, governments and other organizations across Canada. In this plenary, Kosny highlights resource gaps that may hinder physicians’ understanding of their roles and responsibilities in the workers' compensation system and RTW process, and which may ultimately delay workers’ RTW after injury.
IWH Speaker Series
Whole-body vibration: What can we do to reduce this known health risk?
Jim Dickey, Western University
Whole-body vibration (WBV) is a significant health risk for four to seven per cent of the workforce, primarily operators of heavy mobile vehicles. Negative health outcomes are associated with excessive vibration exposure, including lower-back pain, spinal degeneration, gastro-intestinal tract problems, sleep problems, headaches, neck problems, autonomic nervous system dysfunction, hearing loss, and nausea. In this plenary, Dr. Jim Dickey describes two approaches that have been successfully used to evaluate seating in heavy mobile machinery. He also shares why optimized seating should be considered for some workplaces.
IWH Speaker Series
Sleep dysfunction in mild traumatic brain injury: relevance to work disability prevention
Tatyana Mollayeva, Rehabilitation Sciences Institute, University of Toronto
Sleep disturbance is a common problem experienced by those with mild traumatic brain injuries (TBI). While the disruption subsides relatively quickly for some, up to half of those with mild TBI report chronic sleep disturbances—which in turn can seriously impair day-to-day function and return to work. In this plenary, Dr. Tatyana Mollayeva discusses the relationship between sleep and relevant clinical and non-clinical factors as well as outcomes in a sample of Ontario workers with mild TBI. She also presents known risks for sleep dysfunction in mild TBI and the implications for work disability prevention.
IWH Speaker Series
The health of truck drivers: Moving forward with a program of applied health research
Philip Bigelow, University of Waterloo
Studies conducted in the U.S. and other countries have shown that truck drivers are at increased risk for such medical conditions as cardiovascular disorders, sleep apnea, diabetes and obesity. Drivers have multiple risk factors associated with these conditions such as high rates of smoking, poor diet and low levels of physical activity. In this plenary, Dr. Philip Bigelow discusses a two-phase program of research that examines the prevalence of driving-related chronic diseases and risk factors among Canadian truck drivers, and proposes an intervention to improve their health and wellness.
IWH Speaker Series
Measuring OHS vulnerability among new immigrants
Morgan Lay, Institute for Work & Health
While previous research has identified that recent immigrants are at increased risk of work injury and illness, little is known about the specific mechanisms that lead to this elevated risk. In this plenary, Institute for Work & Health (IWH) research associate Morgan Lay presents preliminary results from a recent IWH collaboration with settlement agencies to better understand the workplace and social contexts that lead to increased risk of work injury among new immigrants.
IWH Speaker Series
Integrating ergonomics into production system design processes for reduced risk and improved quality: Lessons from the field
Patrick Neumann, Ryerson University
While integrating ergonomics into the process of designing production systems has been seen as the so-called Holy Grail for injury prevention, it has not proven to be easy. In this plenary Dr. Patrick Neumann presents lessons from an "action research" project at Blackberry, aimed at learning how to achieve such integration into the engineering design process. He provides a conceptual framework for considering this process of change, as well as practical methods and tools that were applied in the case to gain buy-in from key stakeholders.
IWH Speaker Series
Measuring precarity and its impact on health
Wayne Lewchuk, McMaster University
How do researchers measure the impact of precarious work on health indicators, including physical and mental health? How do they tease out the interaction between poverty, precarious employment and health outcomes? In this plenary, Dr. Wayne Lewchuk talks about the survey data collected by the Poverty and Employment Precarity in Southern Ontario (PEPSO) research group in 2011 and 2014. He compares the Employment Precarity Index developed by this group with the data collected by Statistics Canada on temporary employment, and highlights in particular how crude measures of precarity can lead to misleading conclusions regarding the impact of insecure employment on health outcomes.
IWH Speaker Series
DASHBash: Celebrating 20 years of the DASH Outcome Measure
Dorcas Beaton, Institute for Work & Health; Carol Kennedy, Institute for Work & Health
2016 marks the 20th anniversary of the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) Outcome Measure. In 1996, when the DASH was developed by the Institute for Work & Health (IWH) and the American Association of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS), no measure had previously existed to assess the disability and function of the arm, shoulder and hand as a whole. Today, this outcome measure is used across the world in 55 languages and dialects. It has also been cited in about 1,500 journal articles. The DASHBash year kicks off with this seminar that highlights the achievements of this “little tool that grew.” This presentation reviews the conceptual foundations of the DASH, summarizes how the DASH is being used and how it is performing, and addresses some frequently asked questions from our users.
IWH Speaker Series
Examining occupational health and safety among migrant farm workers
Theresa Aversa, Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU)
Agricultural work is hazardous for all workers, but migrant farm workers are especially vulnerable. Because their status in Canada hinges on their employment, they live under the shadow of a particular kind of job insecurity, one that may compromise their right to workplace health and safety and to workers' compensation. In this plenary, Theresa Aversa examines OHS vulnerability among migrant workers under two different programs: the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP) and the Temporary Foreign Workers Program. She shares findings from her research, drawn primarily from interviews with advocates and system stakeholders, and from participant observation at advocate-organized events. She also discusses what the findings suggest as possible avenues to improved health and safety of migrant workers.
IWH Speaker Series
Agricultural work, food systems and ecosystems: reflections on a research program
Donald Cole, University of Toronto
Agricultural work is performed around the world at a huge range of scales and in a wide variety of ecosystems—from small plots to extensive holdings, from semi-deserts to lush jungles and low-lying wetlands. Tremendous change is taking place, both in terms of how agricultural commodity and labour markets are regulated, and how ecosystems are affected by climate change. How do work and health researchers develop an understanding of the evolving relationships between agricultural work and health, given all these different contexts? In this plenary, Dr. Donald Cole draws on many decades of work and shares reflections on how a research program can address this and related questions.
IWH Speaker Series
Stealth ergonomics: Incorporating MSD prevention into organizations' goals and systems
Richard Wells, Centre of Research Expertise for the Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders (CRE-MSD)
The prevention of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) has often been treated as a purely occupational health and safety issue. While this approach has made gains over the past few decades, more can be done. Ergonomics has the dual goals of improving both wellbeing and performance. In this plenary, Dr. Richard Wells shows how both MSD and poor product quality share many risk factors, and by addressing organizational goals of quality within an organizations’ management systems, MSD prevention can result in additional resources, effectiveness and sustainability.
IWH Speaker Series
Staying at work with fibromyalgia
Margaret Oldfield, University of Toronto and University Health Network
Staying at work with chronic illness can be difficult. But it's especially so for those with fibromyalgia, a condition that carries considerable stigma. In this plenary, Dr. Margaret Oldfield shares her research on how women with fibromyalgia, along with their family members and co-workers, manage others' perception to avoid stigma and remain at work. She also discusses implications of her findings on workplace practices and policies.
IWH Speaker Series
Can "flexicurity" policies protect workers from the adverse health consequences of temporary employment?
Faraz Vahid Shahidi, University of Toronto
"Flexicurity" policies represent a relatively novel approach to the regulation of work and welfare that aims to combine labour market flexibility with social security. Advocates of this approach argue that, by striking the right balance between these two components, such policies can protect workers from the adverse health and social consequences of flexible employment. In this plenary, Faraz Vahid Shahidi presents his study, which uses data from the European Social Survey to test the theory of flexicurity, with a focus on health inequalities between temporary workers and their permanent counterparts.
IWH Speaker Series
Incorporating MSD prevention into management systems
Amin Yazdani, University of Waterloo
Musculoskeletal prevention (MSD) programs are seldom integrated into broader management system frameworks. This disconnect can result in poor sustainability and weak management buy-in. In this plenary, Dr. Amin Yazdani makes the case for the integration of MSD prevention into organization's management systems and examines harmonized approaches and tools that can bring MSD prevention "to the table."
IWH Speaker Series
A "stages of change" approach to implementing MSD prevention
Paul Rothmore, University of Adelaide
Our knowledge of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) has increased substantially in recent years. But even when workplace interventions designed to prevent MSDs are developed, they are of little use if not properly implemented. In this plenary, Paul Rothmore discusses how implementation could be improved with a better understanding of the process of behaviour change. He shares the latest research on what's called a "stages of change" approach and ways it can be incorporated into the development of workplace interventions.
IWH Speaker Series
Understanding return to work in MSD claims versus psychological injuries, for younger workers versus older workers
Peter Smith, Institute for Work & Health
What are the unique return-to-work challenges facing injured workers at the age of 55 and older? What about the challenges facing those with psychological injuries? Drawing on preliminary findings from a large-scale longitudinal cohort study in Victoria, Australia, IWH Senior Scientist Dr. Peter Smith discusses the differences in return-to-work by age group and by type of injury—and the implications for workers' compensation systems that were designed for worker demographics and work injuries that were very different from today's.