Plain-language summaries
Institute for Work & Health (IWH) plain-language summaries condense research findings in various formats. At Work articles explain study results with comments from the study leads. Research Highlights summarize journal articles in easy-to-read, digest formats. Sharing Best Evidence summaries highlight findings from systematic reviews and other types of reviews conducted or led by IWH researchers. Issue Briefings discuss key research findings from IWH or elsewhere on topics that are of particular interest to policy-makers.
Research Highlights
For many, whiplash recovery is prolonged
Nearly half of those diagnosed with whiplash-associated disorders reported neck pain symptoms one year after their injury. Those with more severe initial symptoms faced even slower recovery, according to a study.
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Research Highlights
Which factors put workers at risk for neck pain?
Neck pain in workers results from a number of individual and workplace factors. This review examines the role of age, physical fitness, work demands, job insecurity, among others.
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Research Highlights
Young workers out of school, with no diploma, more likely to be injured
Young workers who are not in school have higher injury rates, suggesting that additional workplace training programs may be needed outside of the formal school system to reach more at-risk young workers.
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Sharing Best Evidence
Factors for success in participatory ergonomics
In participatory ergonomics (PE), a team works together to identify risks, and change tools, equipment and work processes to improve workplace conditions. PE programs can reduce work-related injuries to muscles, tendons, ligaments and other soft tissues. This systematic review identifies the factors that can increase the likelihood of a successful PE program in workplaces.
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Research Highlights
Does chiropractic care for neck pain increase stroke risk?
Despite reports linking chiropractic care with vertebrobasilar artery (VBA) stroke, this study finds no evidence that visits to a chiropractor increase the risk of a stroke.
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Research Highlights
How can non-researchers get involved in research?
An approach used by the Institute for Work & Health to involve non-researchers in systematic reviews offers several benefits, providing the basis for the inclusion of stakeholders as a permanent step of conducting reviews.
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Research Highlights
For many workers, neck pain lasts at least a year
Neck pain is a persistent and recurring problem in workers. About 60 per cent of workers who experienced neck pain reported having it one year later.
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Research Highlights
OHS risks in social service organizations
Working in a not-for-profit social service organization can be rewarding, but the job can come with health risks. However, a study finds the organization's mission can be a powerful concept in non-profit organizations, resulting in workers putting their clients’ well-being before their own.
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Research Highlights
First return to work after injury doesn't always mean full recovery
Even after they first return to work, people with MSDs may still experience pain, depressive symptoms and work limitations, according to a study on recurring absences.
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At Work article
Team evaluates participatory ergonomic programs
A unique partnership involving workplaces, researchers and health and safety experts is tackling a problem in electrical and utilities companies that concerns many workplaces: musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs).
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At Work article
New tool helps bridge clinical practice and research world
The Institute for Work & Health has launched a new clinical commentary tool, Practice Perspectives. It emerged from a clinician-scientist collaboration in which physiotherapists provided direct input into a research project.
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At Work article
Institute viewed as a top work-health research centre globally
The Institute for Work & Health (IWH) “easily ranks” among the top five occupational health and safety research centres in the world and has made “remarkable progress” in advancing work-health knowledge over the past five years. These assessments were made by an international panel convened to evaluate the quality, relevance and impact of the Institute’s work from 2002 to 2006.
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