May 2018: Mieke Koehoorn will present at WORK, MIGRATION AND HEALTH 2018: A Forum on Precarity, Vulnerability, Health and Safety among Newcomers and Temporary Foreign Workers in Canada in Toronto on May 8. The Forum examines the labour experiences of temporary foreign workers, new immigrants, refugees, working international students and undocumented migrants, and explores opportunities for effective interventions, including: developing responsive policies and regulations; providing accessible health care, social services, and community support; delivering workplace health and safety prevention initiatives; and fostering the engagement and empowerment of workers.
Mieke’s presentation will review results of previous Partnership work on immigration status and work disability duration that found that immigrant workers experienced longer work disability durations than Canadian-born workers, and look ahead to new work linking BC workers’ compensation claim data to immigration and health care data. Future analyses using the linked, population-based research database will investigate if observed disability differences are explained by differences in health care and rehabilitation services utilization, modified return-to-work opportunities, or injury severity/longer-term health consequences. Results will be used to inform policies and procedures designed to reduce differences in disability experiences.