What's new

Thumbnail
Published:

IWH welcomes new Board officers, members

Kate Lamb, a lawyer and head of People and Client Services at the Law Society of Canada, has been elected Chair of the Institute for Work & Health (IWH)’s Board of Directors. Lamb takes over the position held for over six years by Kevin Wilson, a former Assistant Deputy Minister in the Ontario Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development. This was one of many changes made to the IWH Board membership at the Board’s September 2021 meeting, including the addition of three new Board members.

Kathleen Dobson
Published:

IWH research associate promoted to associate scientist

Congratulations to Dr. Kathleen Dobson, who has been promoted to associate scientist at the Institute. Dobson joined IWH in 2016 as research associate and currently holds a Syme fellowship in work and health. She’s completing her PhD in epidemiology at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health.

A doctor speaks to a patient, who's out of frame
Published:

Now recruiting health-care providers for new ECHO OEM mentoring project  

A new Project ECHO program on occupational and environmental medicine (OEM) has been launched! This telementoring project, which includes a research component led by IWH, is designed to offer support and advice to Ontario health-care providers who have patients with work-related health conditions. The program is now recruiting primary care providers—including physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, registered nurses and other allied health professionals. Sessions are held via videoconference each Friday from September 17 to December 3, 2021.

Cover image of At Work 105
Published:

Summer issue of At Work is out

In the Summer 2021 issue of At Work, read about: 

  • a new telementoring pilot program for health-care providers on occupational and environmental medicine
  • concerns about health, finances and workplace support among people with disabilities  
  • the link between lacking employment standards and vulnerability to work-related injury risks

and more...

A masked worker riding a bus
Published:

Workers’ COVID concerns related to their work conditions, not disability status: study

People with both physical and mental health disabilities were the most concerned about their work, health and finances during the early part of the pandemic. That’s according to an Institute for Work & Health (IWH) study led by Senior Scientist Dr. Monique Gignac. Notably, the study found concerns were linked to people’s work conditions, not to their health or disability status.

Hanging letters spell out "survey" against a yellow background
Published:

Sharing results from our recent stakeholder survey

Last spring, we invited subscribers to IWH products to tell us how you use and share IWH research findings and resources. Our deepest thanks go out to all those who took part. A report sharing the results of that stakeholder survey is now available on our website.

Close-up of a hand holding a surgical mask and a laptop case
Published:

What Research Can Do: A look back and forward at COVID-19 research from IWH

As vaccination rates pick up steam across the country, there’s a real sense we are climbing out and emerging into a new normal. It’s with this sense of hope that we look back at our research strategy during the pandemic and consider what it will look like going forward. We also take a look at the findings to come.

Title: 5 things we think you should know, and five thumbnail images
Published:

Five things we think OHS practitioners should know: findings from recent IWH research

Five of our most practical research findings from the past year for professionals in occupational health and safety (OHS) are all together in one handout. The 2021 edition of 5 Things We Think You Should Know is now available. Please download and share.

An out-of-frame doctor talks to someone on a laptop screen
Published:

IWH set to launch telementoring project on occupational medicine for health professionals

Frontline health-care providers play an important role in helping people return to work following a work-related injury or illness. But family doctors and other frontline practitioners may lack familiarity with the workers’ compensation system and return-to-work processes. A new telementoring project is being launched in Ontario to address this skills gap. Project ECHO on Occupational and Environmental Medicine, to be hosted by the Institute for Work & Health (IWH), will launch in the fall. It will be the first such project on occupational medicine, using the innovative hub-and-spoke health-care mentoring model called ECHO—short for Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes—that’s now used around the world.

View from the back of a man in a suit in an urban street
Published:

Unemployment benefits linked to lower mortality rates over 10 years: IWH study

We know that being out of work puts people at risk of short- and long-term health consequences—including higher death rates. A new Institute for Work & Health study looks at whether—and how much—having income support during unemployment can lessen the negative impact.