Dr. Arif Jetha
Dr. Arif Jetha is associate scientific director and scientist at the Institute for Work & Health. He is also an associate professor (status-only) at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health.
Jetha earned his PhD in behavioural sciences and public health at the University of Toronto, and an MSc in health community and development from the London School of Economics and Political Science. He also held post-doctoral fellowships at the Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety and the Institute for Work & Health.
Jetha’s program of research aims at understanding how sociopolitical, technological, environmental and economic changes that characterize the future of work affect the health and employment participation of vulnerable workers. He is specifically interested in the implications of artificial intelligence (AI) on the health, safety and well-being of workers. Also, Jetha leads research on how changing working conditions can shape the labour market experiences of young workers and persons living with disabilities at the early career phase and across the life course.
To pursue his research program, Jetha takes a systems perspective and uses a mixed-methods research approach. He collaborates closely with diverse research partners to produce findings that can inform policy and practice. Jetha is currently the recipient of the Stars Career Development Salary Award from the Arthritis Society.
“The world of work is changing at a rapid rate. Studying the future of work allows me to understand the emerging challenges facing workers and create an evidence base that can be used to inform the design of policies and programs that are resilient to change and protect the most vulnerable.”
— Dr. Arif Jetha
Projects
- Future-focused job accommodation practices for the school-to-work transition. Funded by Accessibility Standards Canada (Government of Canada). Ongoing. (PI on the project)
- Future-proofing young Canadians with disabilities for the changing labour market. Funded by New Frontiers in Research Fund (a Tri-Agency Program—CIHR, NSERC, SSHRC). Ongoing. (PI on the project)
- Inclusive Design for Employment Access (IDEA): A social innovation lab to increase demand-side capacity to employ persons with disabilities in Canada. Funded by New Frontiers in Research Fund (a Tri-Agency Program—CIHR, NSERC, SSHRC). Ongoing.
- Inclusive Design for Employment Access (IDEA): Transition to work and career development. Funded by MLITSD, New Frontiers in Research Fund (a Tri-Council initiative among CIHR, SSHRC and Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council) . Ongoing. (PI on the project)
- Intelligent machines and human worker inequities: examining the implications of AI in the workplace. Funded by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC); Future Skills Centre. Ongoing. (PI on the project)
Publications
- Breslin FC, Lay M, Jetha A, Smith PM. Examining occupational health and safety vulnerability among Canadian workers with disabilities. Disability and Rehabilitation. 2018;40(18):2138-2143. doi:10.1080/09638288.2017.1327985.
- Jetha A, LaMontagne AD, Lilley R, Hogg-Johnson S, Sim MR, Smith PM. Workplace social system and sustained return-to-work: a study of supervisor and co-worker supportiveness and injury reaction. Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation. 2018;28(3):486-494. doi:10.1007/s10926-017-9724-z.
- Jetha A, Theis KA, Boring MA, Barbour KE. Education and employment participation in young adulthood. What role does arthritis play?. Arthritis Care and Research. 2017;69(10):1582-1589. doi:10.1002/acr.23175.
- Jetha A, Kernan L, Kurowski A. Conceptualizing the dynamics of workplace stress: a systems-based study of nursing aides. BMC Health Services Research. 2017;17(1):12. doi:10.1186/s12913-016-1955-8.
- Jetha A, Chen C, Mustard C, Ibrahim S, Bielecky A, Beaton DE, Smith PM. Longitudinal examination of temporality in the association between chronic disease diagnosis and changes in work status and hours worked. Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 2017;74(3):184. doi:10.1136/oemed-2016-103569.
Speaker Series presentations
- Life course concepts in the work experiences of people with arthritis. IWH Speaker Series. November 22, 2016.
Interviews and articles
- What employers can learn from the NBA about returning to work amid COVID-19. The Conversation. April 5, 2021. Available from: https://theconversation.com/what-employers-can-learn-from-the-nba-about-returning-to-work-amid-covid-19-157022
- Precarity more likely for older, new workers with disabilities. At Work: Institute for Work & Health; No. 103, Winter 2021.
- Canadian workers aren’t too worried about robots taking their jobs, web survey finds. Toronto Star. December 14, 2020. Available from: https://www.thestar.com/politics/federal/2020/09/16/canadian-workers-arent-too-worried-about-robots-taking-their-jobs-web-survey-finds.html
- Depressive symptoms in people with arthritis linked to lower employment rates. At Work: Institute for Work & Health; No. 102, Fall 2020.
- Coronavirus: The risks to essential workers with hidden health conditions. At Work: Institute for Work & Health; No. 100, Spring 2020.