Health-care sector
IWH research that specifically involves health-care workplaces, workers, unions, employers and/or associations, as well as research on programs that specifically target the health-care sector, is collected together here. Not included here is IWH research that cuts across all or many sectors, even though it may be relevant to the health-care sector. For this reason, visitors are encouraged to explore beyond this page to find equally important information on the prevention of work injury and disability in health care.
Featured
Research Highlights
Primary care physicians’ learning needs in returning ill or injured workers to work
While primary care physicians play an important role in helping ill and injured workers return to work (RTW), they have a variety of learning needs about how to best navigate the RTW process. These needs fall in the areas of completing administrative tasks, challenging personal beliefs, understandin
Published: July 26, 2023
IWH Speaker Series
More than just COVID-19 prevention: Exploring the links between PPE, safe work protocols and workers' mental health
Published: November 10, 2020
Journal article
Journal article
A systematic review: effectiveness of interventions to de-escalate workplace violence against nurses in healthcare settings
Published: Safety and Health at Work, September 2021
Journal article
Journal article
Implementation of participatory organizational change in long term care to improve safety
Published: Journal of Safety Research, September 2021
Journal article
Journal article
Health care costs of rheumatoid arthritis: a longitudinal population study
Published: PLoS ONE, May 2021
Journal article
Journal article
Towards consensus in defining and handling contextual factors within rheumatology trials: an initial qualitative study from an OMERACT working group
Published: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, February 2021
Journal article
Journal article
Getting the message right: evidence-based insights to improve organizational return-to-work communication practices
Published: Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, February 2021
Journal article
Journal article
A realist review of violence prevention education in healthcare
Published: Healthcare, January 2021
Journal article
Journal article
The association between the perceived adequacy of workplace infection control procedures and personal protective equipment with mental health symptoms: a cross-sectional survey of Canadian health-care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic
Published: Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, January 2021
IWH Speaker Series
IWH Speaker Series
More than just COVID-19 prevention: Exploring the links between PPE, safe work protocols and workers' mental health
We have heard a lot about the importance of personal protective equipment (PPE) and infection control procedures (ICP) in reducing workplace COVID-19 transmission. A new study, conducted jointly with the Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers (OHCOW), set out to explore their importance in protecting workers' mental health. In this presentation, Dr. Peter Smith shares results from two surveys, one conducted among health-care workers and the other among the broader Canadian workforce. The findings provide important insights into the additional benefits of adequate design and implementation of employer-based infection control practices—beyond reducing COVID-19 transmission.
Published: November 2020
IWH in the media
Health-care workers lacking PPE suffer from more anxiety and depression
While personal protective equipment (PPE) and infection control procedures are often discussed as measures to reduce virus transmission, we also need to understand their importance in the context of mental health, especially since the mental health impacts of COVID-19 may linger beyond the pandemic, writes IWH Senior Scientist Dr. Peter Smith in The Conversation.
Published: The Conversation, September 2020
IWH in the media
COVID precautions protect workers' physical and mental health, study
Canadian health-care workers say they lacked adequate COVID-19 precautions during the pandemic’s first wave and new research finds this also contributes to poorer mental health. Workers Health & Safety Centre shares findings from a study by IWH and Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers (OHCOW), published in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry.
Published: Workers Health & Safety Centre, September 2020