Return to work, accommodation and support
IWH has a long history of conducting research on practices, policies and processes that help workers sustainably return to work after an illness or an injury. This page pulls together IWH research and resources on employer supports, job accommodations and modifications, as well as other related issues such as disclosure of disability.
Featured
![A seated woman with a clipboard in-hand speaks to a female client](/sites/iwh/files/styles/bootstrap_6_col_wide/public/iwh/images/iStock-1681105205.jpg?h=62bc044e&itok=_-RX-pME)
Research Highlights
How do employment support programs impact the health of young adults with episodic disabilities?
Episodic disabilities can make it challenging for workers to find and sustain employment while managing their symptoms and work demands. An IWH study investigated the health impacts of employment support programs for young adults with episodic disabilities.
Published: April 8, 2024
![A man speaks with a female doctor in scrubs who holds a clipboard](/sites/iwh/files/styles/bootstrap_6_col_wide/public/iwh/images/cannabis_doctor_consult.jpg?h=3688f8d5&itok=3u5P8tEA)
Research Highlights
Workers are using cannabis to treat work-related conditions, mostly without medical guidance
While cannabis is often used recreationally, there is growing interest in its use for therapeutic purposes, such as for pain, anxiety, depression and sleep problems. Some workers are using cannabis many months following the onset of a work-related condition, mostly without medical guidance.
Published: October 5, 2023
Journal article
Journal article
Primary care physicians' learning needs in returning ill or injured workers to work. A scoping review
Published: Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, May 2022
IWH Speaker Series
IWH Speaker Series
The employment quality of persons with disabilities: findings from a national survey
Persons with disabilities face persisting inequities in the labour market arising from stigma, discrimination, and other structural barriers to employment. It is widely accepted that greater integration into the labour market could serve to promote the social and economic inclusion of persons with disabilities. But what happens when they are successful at integrating into the labour market? What kind of jobs do they get? In this presentation, Dr. Faraz Vahid Shahidi shares findings from a recent nationwide survey examining the employment quality of persons with disabilities in Canada. He documents the nature and extent of employment inequities experienced by persons with disabilities, as well as the consequences of these inequities for support and accommodation in the workplace.
Published: April 2022
![A young woman looks at her phone in frustration and exasperation](/sites/iwh/files/styles/bootstrap_4_col_widescreen/public/iwh/images/frustrating_phone_woman.jpg?h=f2fcf546&itok=pE7DyOlY)
At Work article
Poor interactions with case managers linked with risk of mental illness later on
A new Ontario study finds face higher risks of serious psychological distress among injured workers who report not being treated with respect or not given the information they need in their interactions with case managers.
Published: March 2022
![Canadian HR Reporter logo](/sites/iwh/files/styles/bootstrap_4_col_widescreen/public/iwh/images/hr_reporter_logo.png?h=6eb229a4&itok=8KfhO_oJ)
IWH in the media
Employees, leaders differ on mental health supports
Despite lots of talk around the importance of good mental health while on the job, the supports for workers are still lacking. John Dujay interviews Institute for Work & Health Scientist Dr. Dwayne Van Eerd on his study examining mental health supports, from the perspectives of workers and managers.
Published: Canadian HR Reporter, February 2022
![A woman smiles sympathetically at a colleague in an office](/sites/iwh/files/styles/bootstrap_4_col_widescreen/public/iwh/images/depression_support_workers_managers.jpg?h=8de5d2e4&itok=thAEErS0)
Research Highlights
Workers’ and managers’ perspectives on workplace supports for depression
In a survey of workers with depression and those who manage them, nearly one out of four said no supports were available. Asked about the most helpful type of support, survey respondents with lived experience of depression most often indicated employee assistance programs (EAPs) and other supports external to the workplace. As for barriers to implementing practices, participants noted unsupportive managers, lack of knowledge about mental health in the workplace, and lack of training for managers.
Published: January 2022
Journal article
Journal article
Rheumatic disease disclosure at the early career phase and its impact on the relationship between workplace supports and presenteeism
Published: Arthritis Care & Research, January 2022
![Long shadows cast by a row of workers](/sites/iwh/files/styles/bootstrap_4_col_widescreen/public/iwh/images/long_shadows_row.jpg?h=71976bb4&itok=AM7pHsIy)
At Work article
Study probes factors behind poorer health, lower employment in injured workers’ post-claim experience
What are the work and health outcomes of injured workers after they no longer receive workers' compensation benefits or services? A study at IWH sets out to explore this little understood aspect of the post-injury experience.
Published: November 2021
Project
Project
Inclusive Design for Employment Access (IDEA): A social innovation lab to increase demand-side capacity to employ persons with disabilities in Canada
This large, national project includes many research team members, collaborators and partners—all taking an innovative approach to increasing the sustainable employment of people with disabilities in Canada by building disability confidence and accommodation capacity among employers
Status: Ongoing
![Canadian Occupational Safety logo](/sites/iwh/files/styles/bootstrap_4_col_widescreen/public/iwh/images/Canadian%20Occupational-Safety.png?h=1f72bc86&itok=NvaHi-OZ)
IWH in the media
How workplaces can support staff with MS
Canada has one of the highest rates of multiple scleroris and employers need to do more to accommodate, according to Julie Kelndorfer of MS Society of Canada. Maia Foulis interviews her about what workplaces can do to be safe and welcoming to people with the condition, and why the society is a partner on an Institute for Work & Health research project on communicating about episodic disability.
Published: Canadian Occupational Safety, September 2021
Journal article
Journal article
Cohort profile: the Ontario Life After Workplace Injury Study (OLAWIS)
Published: BMJ Open, September 2021