Health practice and management

Health-care providers and health-care services play an important part in the return to work (RTW) of injured workers and in disability management processes at workers’ compensation boards in Canada. IWH research supports front-line health-care practitioners—including primary care physicians and allied health-care professionals, who support or treat workers with injuries and illnesses that affect their ability to work.

Featured

Toronto police officers in a car and on horses.
At Work article

PTSI treatment program delivers benefits for first responders, but no change in return-to-work rates

First responders face high rates of post-traumatic stress injuries (PTSI) due to the nature of their jobs. In response, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board commissioned an intensive, 14-week program treatment program tailored to these workers, which has undergone a multi-part evaluation.
Published: March 9, 2026
A doctor with a patient who has his arm in a sling.
Research Highlights

Telementoring program addresses return-to-work challenges for Ontario health-care providers

An IWH study has found that Ontario health-care providers face a range of challenges when treating workers with a work-related injury or illness and helping them return to work—a telementoring program called ECHO Occupational Environmental Medicine helped providers overcome some of these challenges.
Published: July 8, 2025
A group of firefighters aim a firehose at a building
At Work article

Employers face challenges in supporting public safety personnel with post-traumatic stress injuries

Workers in public safety jobs, like firefighters or police, are often exposed to potentially traumatic events and may experience mental health injuries as a result. In Ontario, a pilot program has been developed to help treat these workers. To identify any needed changes to the program, IWH researchers asked employers about their experiences helping these workers return to work after a mental health injury.
Published: January 2025
Journal article
Journal article
Journal article

ECHO OEM virtual community of learning for primary care

Published: Occupational Medicine, September 2024
Journal article
Journal article
Journal article

Defining domains: developing consensus-based definitions for foundational domains in OMERACT core outcome sets

Published: Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism, June 2024
Journal article
Journal article

Increasing uptake through collaboration in the development of core outcome sets: lessons learned at OMERACT 2023

Published: Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism, March 2024