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February 2019: PWHS PhD candidate Sharon Provost is collaborating with BC health authorities on an innovative way to evaluate the Provincial Violence Prevention Curriculum. The Vancouver Coastal Research Institute featured the work in their Research Insider newsletter.
Using a realist approach, the project will identify why, how, when, for whom, and in what circumstances the violence prevention education in health care is effective in decreasing violence and violence-related injuries. Learn more: Realist evaluation of violence prevention education in health care
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February 2019: PWHS co-director Chris McLeod talks about our work exploring facilitators and barriers to return to work after injury in the construction sector in On Site magazine.
Learn more about this work: Return to work in the construction sector
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February 2019: The Partnership for Work, Health and Safety is seeking a part-time (40%) research assistant to work on a realist evaluation of the violence prevention curriculum used in the BC healthcare sector. The evaluation will provide meaningful evidence to inform violence prevention program and policy decisions, and the research assistant will apply their skills in coding qualitative data from transcripts, identifying key information and issues in the data, and effectively extracting key themes and patterns. Candidates with experience in realist evaluation methodologies are preferred.
Job description
The research assistant:
- Participates in data extraction and coding of transcripts and other documents using qualitative analysis software (NVivo);
- Contributes to the development of codes as well as context, mechanism and outcome explanations using a realist methodology approach;
- Conducts preliminary analyses and participates in development of findings;
- Develops data documentation and other necessary documentation for coding team;
- Organizes and maintains project documents, files and collected data;
- May contribute to and edit project reports, research briefs and peer review publications;
- Maintains project timelines;
- Ensures Principal Investigator and Director of Privacy and Operations are notified about any issues or problems in a timely manner; and
- Maintains confidentiality of data and exercises judgment, responsibility, and initiative in conducting all work tasks.
Desired skills and experience
Education
- Undergraduate degree in a relevant discipline or graduation from a technical college or institute. Bachelor’s degree in a social discipline, or equivalent experience, preferred.
Experience
- Minimum of 3 years related experience or the equivalent combination of education and experience.
- Minimum of 1 year of experience in conducting primary data collection is required.
- Experience coding qualitative data preferred. Knowledge of realist evaluation methodology preferred.
- Familiarity with health care settings and the risk of workplace violence and related injuries to health care workers is an asset.
Skills
- Ability to communicate effectively verbally and in writing.
- Ability to be thorough, accurate, and have a high level of attention to detail.
- Ability to effectively manage multiple tasks and priorities.
- Ability to code in NVivo, identify key information and issues in primary data, and effectively extract key themes.
- Interpersonal skills including the ability to work effectively independently and in a team.
This position is responsible for access, collection, use and disclosure of personal information in accordance with the BC Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (RSBC 1996) and other UBC privacy and security policies. This position requires employees to work under strict confidentiality requirements, and internal procedures and policies to protect personal information must be followed.
About our organization
The Partnership is dedicated to addressing current and emerging issues of work-related health in British Columbia. The Partnership takes the lead in work-related health research by developing and promoting the use of routinely collected health and compensation data to generate policy-relevant evidence for compensation and occupational health decision-makers, via our data partner, Population Data BC. The data allows us to conduct research on the entire working-age population over a 25-year period, providing a unique and comprehensive portrait of the health and well-being of workers in British Columbia. The Partnership works with researchers and decision-makers in other jurisdictions to create similar databases for comparative research purposes.
Our team is comprised of a diverse and multidisciplinary group of faculty, students, and staff, situated in the School of Population and Public Health (SPPH) in the Faculty of Medicine at UBC. SPPH is an innovative unit structured around four divisions (Occupational and Environmental Health; Health Services and Policy; Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Public Health Practice; and Health in Populations) that provides multidisciplinary opportunities for researchers, learners and decision makers to develop creative evidence-based strategies to solve public health issues.
To apply
Please apply by via the UBC Careers website by March 1.
Equity and diversity are essential to academic excellence. An open and diverse community fosters the inclusion of voices that have been underrepresented or discouraged. We encourage applications from members of groups that have been marginalized on any grounds enumerated under the B.C. Human Rights Code, including sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, racialization, disability, political belief, religion, marital or family status, age, and/or status as a First Nation, Metis, Inuit, or Indigenous person.
All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.
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January 2019: The Partnership for Work, Heath and Safety is seeking a postdoctoral fellow for a two year term, with an initial appointment of one year. The incumbent will lead a program of research informing the provision of healthcare, rehabilitation and compensation services for injured workers, with a focus on optimal work-health and return-to-work outcomes among immigrant workers in Canada. The position is situated within a broader program of occupational health research under the direction of Drs. Mieke Koehoorn and Chris McLeod. This position will be supervised by Dr. Mieke Koehoorn. The research conducted by the post-doctoral fellow will aim to provide a comprehensive picture of work disability experiences (from injury to return-to-work to long term health consequences), including by immigration status within the Canadian context.
Job description
The primary activities of the postdoctoral research fellow include:
- To lead a program of research with a focus on comparing work disability experiences among immigrants and Canadian-born workers, and to investigate the demographic, clinical and workplace determinants of work disability outcomes;
- To co-author and author publications for peer-review journals;
- To coordinate and assist with the preparation of grant application(s);
- To assist with the development of workers’ compensation data for research purposes;
- To conduct analyses using a variety of statistical methods and statistical programs;
- To support the preparation of research reports and to participate in knowledge translation (KT) activities; and
- To participate in team meetings and to contribute to Partnership for Work, Health and Safety academic activities.
Desired skills and experience
Education
- Completion of a PhD in a relevant discipline e.g., population and public health or social sciences (epidemiology, sociology, political science, geography, etc.) with a focus on health and/or immigrant health outcomes.
Experience
- Strong understanding of, and proven experience using, advanced statistical and empirical analysis methods, as well as proficiency with related software (SAS, Stata, R).
- Understanding of, and experience using, administrative health data/health services records for research purposes.
- Expertise in advanced epidemiological methods including, for example, survival analyses, quantile regression, trajectory analyses, and propensity score matching.
- Experience with writing scientific manuscripts in the field of public and work health, health policy and health service research or related social science journals.
Skills
- Sound theoretical and practical understanding of the linkages between public policy including but not limited to workers’ compensation and work-health outcomes.
- Strong statistical analytical skills including training in observational and quasi- experimental research methodology.
- Excellent communication skills, including strong writing, research and interpersonal skills.
Errors made could influence the ability of the research team to meet critical deadlines, as well as compromise the results of research project, and therefore impact the credibility of the Principal Investigator. Poor decisions may be damaging to the reputation of the Principal Investigator, the School, and the University and could lead to incorrect or inappropriate policy recommendations being made.
This position will be responsible for access, collection, use and disclosure of personal information in accordance with the BC Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (RSBC 1996) and other UBC privacy and security policies. This position requires employees to work under strict confidentiality requirements; internal procedures and policies to protect personal information must be followed and adherence to these requirements will be regularly reviewed by the employer.
About our organization
The Partnership is dedicated to addressing current and emerging issues of work-related health in British Columbia. The Partnership takes the lead in work-related health research by developing and promoting the use of routinely collected health and compensation data to generate policy-relevant evidence for compensation and occupational health decision-makers, via our data partner, Population Data BC. The data allows us to conduct research on the entire working-age population over a 25-year period, providing a unique and comprehensive portrait of the health and well-being of workers in British Columbia. The Partnership works with researchers and decision-makers in other jurisdictions to create similar databases for comparative research purposes.
Our team is comprised of a diverse and multidisciplinary group of faculty, students, and staff, situated in the School of Population and Public Health (SPPH) in the Faculty of Medicine at UBC. SPPH is an innovative unit structured around four divisions (Occupational and Environmental Health; Health Services and Policy; Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Public Health Practice; and Health in Populations) that provides multidisciplinary opportunities for researchers, learners and decision makers to develop creative evidence-based strategies to solve public health issues.
To apply
Please apply by emailing Partnership Director of Privacy and Operations Suhail Marino at suhail.marino@ubc.ca.
Equity and diversity are essential to academic excellence. An open and diverse community fosters the inclusion of voices that have been underrepresented or discouraged. We encourage applications from members of groups that have been marginalized on any grounds enumerated under the B.C. Human Rights Code, including sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, racialization, disability, political belief, religion, marital or family status, age, and/or status as a First Nation, Metis, Inuit, or Indigenous person.
All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.
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January 2019: PWHS researchers, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students are giving a series of presentations on cost-benefit of gradual return to work, facilitators of return to work in the construction industry, precarious work, and social inequalities in youth depression trajectories at Cascadia Occupational, Environmental, and Population Health Conference, January 10-11, in Semiahmoo, Washington.
Thursday, January 10
Social inequalities in young people’s depression trajectories: Comparing Canada and the United States
Anita Minh, PWHS PhD Student
Does region of residence matter for return-to-work after work-related injury? A comparative analysis of six Canadian workers’ compensation jurisdictions
Robert Macpherson, PWHS Research Associate
Healthcare utilization for workers with musculoskeletal disorder in British Columbia, Canada
Esther Maas, PWHS Postdoctoral Fellow
Are specific factors of regulatory inspections more effective at improving workplace safety?
Minal Pachchigar, PWHS MSc Student
Effectiveness and cost-benefit analysis of gradual return to work (poster)
Esther Maas, PWHS Postdoctoral Fellow
Friday, January 11
Precarious work associated with precarious social/health benefits
Mieke Koehoorn, PWHS Co-Director
What facilitates or prevents return to work in the construction sector?
Chris McLeod, PWHS Co-Director
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January 2019: PhD candidate Sharon Provost is collaborating with BC health authorities on an innovative way to evaluate the Provincial Violence Prevention Curriculum. Using a realist approach, we will identify why, how, when, for whom, and in what circumstances the violence prevention education in health care is effective in decreasing violence and violence-related injuries.
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A new paper, by PWHS postdoctoral fellow Robert Macpherson and Co-director Chris McLeod and coauthors, found that men transitioned off disability benefits faster than women for shorter claim durations, then women transitioned off benefits faster than men for longer claims. The findings were consistent across three Canadian provinces.
Purpose
Research has shown that there are important sex and gender-based differences in the work disability duration of men and women. This research is often limited to single jurisdictions, using different outcome measures, and therefore has limited generalisability of findings. This study examined if differences between work disability of men and women differed by province and by duration of work disability.
Methods
Cohorts of injured workers in the Canadian provinces of British Columbia (BC), Manitoba (MB) and Ontario (ON) were analysed using workers’ compensation data for work-related injuries occurring between 2007 and 2011. Work disability duration was measured using cumulative days in receipt of disability benefits paid during one-year post-injury. Poisson models with restricted cubic splines tested whether differences between men and women in the likelihood of transitioning off disability benefits varied by duration of work disability in each province, adjusting for confounders.
Results
Men transitioned off disability benefits faster than women for claim durations of up to two to four months, after which women transitioned off disability benefits faster until ten months. Differences between men and women were consistent across all jurisdictions. For claims longer than ten months, men transitioned off work disability benefits faster than women in BC and ON, but there were no significant differences between men and women in MB.
Conclusions
Differences in the work disability duration between men and women vary by province and duration of work disability. Claims management processes need to be sensitive to differences that men and women face and the timing of interventions.
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October 2018: PWHS is seeking a qualified and engaged statistical analyst to join our research team in analyzing and learning from occupational health big data to create safer and more secure workplaces.
Job description
The Partnership for Work, Health and Safety brings together researchers, policymakers, and data resources from the University of BC School of Population and Public Health, WorkSafeBC (the Workers’ Compensation Board of BC), and external partners to address current and emerging issues of work-related health and workers’ compensation in innovative ways, using both quantitative and qualitative methods. The Analyst is responsible for providing statistical guidance in the planning stages of research design, assessing and improving data quality, conducting complex analyses, and interpreting results and communicating findings for multiple projects for Partnership researchers, industry partners, and other stakeholders. The Analyst will perform descriptive and statistical analyses according to study protocols, analytic plans, and what is logical for the particular occupational health issue being examined. The position requires that the Analyst have the training and experience to apply appropriate statistical models to various research questions, and the Analyst will be expected to keep up with current research literature and guidelines on data analysis and communication.
Desired skills and experience
- Master’s degree in biostatistics, epidemiology, or other health care-related discipline.
- Experience with observational research design and analysis and statistical methodology.
- Minimum three years of experience working in research methodology, epidemiology, biostatistical analysis, econometrics, or equivalent.
- Two years of experience using statistical software packages such as Stata, SAS, or R. Knowledge of SQL programming is an asset.
- Excellent critical appraisal, problem solving, and decision making skills.
- Effective oral and written communication skills and ability to work as part of a team.
- Ability to maintain accuracy and attention to detail within a privacy sensitive environment.
About our organization
The Partnership for Work, Health and Safety takes the lead in work-related health research in BC by developing and promoting the use of routinely collected health and compensation data from multiple sources via our data partner, Population Data BC. The data allows us to conduct research on the entire working-age population over a 25 year period, providing a unique and comprehensive portrait of the health and well being of BC’s workers. Our research results inform the design of evidence-based policies and prevention programs to create safer and more secure workplaces, and help improve opportunities for recovery after injuries occur. Our team is comprised of a diverse and multidisciplinary group of faculty, students, and staff, situated in the School of Population and Public Health in the Faculty of Medicine at UBC.
To apply
Apply via the UBC Staff Careers website, or email Partnership Director of Privacy and Operations Suhail Marino at suhail.marino@ubc.ca.
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October 2018: Partnership Co-director Mieke Koehoorn, postdoctoral fellows Robert Macpherson and Esther Maas, PhD students Kimberly Sharpe and Andrea Jones, and MSc student Johannes Rebane are attending CARWH 2018, the Canadian Association for Research on Work and Health biennial conference, October 21-23, in Vancouver. Most of their presentations address return to work after work injury, with attention to a variety of factors, including gradual return to work, barriers in the construction sector, the impact of mental health disorders, and geography.
Monday, October 22, Parallel Session I
Is it making a difference: Why, how, and for whom? A realist review of violence prevention education in healthcare
Sharon Provost
Exploring the effect of gradual return to work on sustained return to work, using a multistate model
Esther T. Maas
What facilitates or prevents successful return-to-work in the construction sector?
Kimberly Sharpe
Monday, October 22, Parallel Session III
Is COR associated with lower firm-level injury rates? An evaluation of the effect of an audit-based occupational health and safety recognition program on firm-level injury rates in Alberta, Canada
Robert Macpherson
Documentation of occupation for patients with mesothelioma – interesting findings from a review of oncology medical records
Mieke Koehoorn
Tuesday, October 23, Parallel Session IV
A multi-level longitudinal analysis of occupational sick leave associated with macroeconomic shifts from 2000-2015
Johannes Rebane
Impact of anxiety and depression disorders on return-to-work transitions after musculoskeletal injury
Andrea Marie Jones
Tuesday, October 23, Lightning Session
Twenty-five Years of Claims Data for Compensated Occupational Illnesses – What Has Changed?
Mieke Koehoorn
Does place of residence affect work disability duration? A comparative analysis of six Canadian workers’ compensation systems
Robert Macpherson
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Call for Podium Presentations and Posters
Cascadia Environmental, Occupational, and Public Health Symposium: Evidence to Action
Semiahmoo Resort (Blaine, WA)
January 10-11, 2019
It’s time to start planning for the annual Cascadia Symposium. This is a joint meeting on environmental and occupational health for schools of Public Health in WA, OR, and BC. It is a great opportunity for cross border conversations and collaborations. This will be our 30th time hosting the symposium at Semiahmoo Resort in Blaine, WA.
This intimate conference provides faculty, staff and students a forum to share new ideas and current or evolving research through plenary sessions, short (20-minute) podium presentations, ignite presentation (5 min) and posters, small group discussions, and socializing.
If you are interested in presenting a poster, a podium paper, or Ignite presentation: email a suggested title, your position (indicate whether you are faculty, staff or student) and a brief description to the contact for your University (noted below). Presentations are open to faculty, staff, and students; research presented need not be completed for participation in this conference.
We will again be asking for presentations for the ‘Ignite’ session; short 5-minute presentations on planned or initiated research projects. These presentations are to stimulate thinking, promote discussion, and inspire collaboration. (see: http://www.ignitetalks.io/ for more information on this presentation format)
New this year, we are also requesting any short films or animations you have made related to occupational and environmental health, which we hope to use for pre- or post-dinner entertainment. Please send the title and link (if hosted on a website) to your university contact if you would like it included.
Submit your presentation title, short description, and whether you prefer a poster, podium, or Ignite talk by November 16, 2018 to:
Anne Marie Nicol (SFU)
Perry Hystad (OSU)
Chris McLeod (UBC, UVic)
Marissa Baker (UW)
The planning committee will notify you by November 30 whether your submission has been selected.
The conference starts at 10am on Thursday January 10th, and ends at 12:00 noon on January 11th. The conference registration fee is $250 USD/$250 CAD (including meals); guests are welcome, and a guest fee of $85 USD can be paid (to cover guest meal expenses) when registering or paid on site. Semiahmoo Resort has provided a conference rate for hotel rooms of $129 USD. Further information regarding registration and room reservations will follow.
Cascadia 2019 is sponsored by the Pacific Northwest Agricultural Safety & Health Center and the Northwest Center for Occupational Health and Safety, both located at the University of Washington.
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June 2018: PWHS post-doctoral fellow Robert Macpherson and co-director Chris McLeod, with Australian colleagues Tyler Lane and Alex Collie, are authors of a new paper in BMC Public Health identifying age and sex trends in the disability burden of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in Canada and Australia. Along with finding that the burden of work-related MSDs is shifting toward older workers, particularly older females in Australia and older males in Canada, this paper demonstrates that workers’ compensation data can be compared internationally.
Background
The objectives of this study were (1) to identify age and sex trends in the disability burden of compensated work-related MSDs in Canada and Australia; and (2) to demonstrate a means of comparing workers’compensation data internationally.
Methods
All non-fatal, work-related MSD claims with at least one day of compensated time-loss were extracted for workers aged 15–80 during a 10-year period (2004–2013) using workers’compensation data from five Canadian and eight Australian jurisdictions. Disability burden was calculated for both countries by sex, age group, and injury classification, using cumulative compensated time-loss payments of up to two years post-injury.
Results
A total of 1.2 million MSD claims were compensated for time-loss in the Canadian and Australian jurisdictions during 2004–2013. This resulted in time-loss equivalent to 239,345 years in the Canadian jurisdictions and 321,488 years in the Australian jurisdictions. The number of time-loss years declined overall among male and female workers, but greater declines were observed for males and younger workers. The proportion of the disability burden grew among older workers (aged 55+), particularly males in the Canadian jurisdictions (Annual Percent Change [APC]: 7.2, 95% CI 6.7 to 7.7%) and females in the Australian jurisdictions (APC: 7.5, 95% CI 6.2 to 8.9%).
Conclusions
The compensated disability burden of work-related MSDs is shifting towards older workers and particularly older females in Australia and older males in Canada. Employers and workers’compensation boards should consider the specific needs of older workers to reduce injuries and time off work. Comparative research made possible through research-stakeholder partnerships offers a unique opportunity to use existing administrative data to identify long-term trends in disability burden. Future research can apply similar approaches for estimating long-term trends in occupational health.
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May 2018: PWHS postdoctoral fellow Esther Maas will speak at the IWH Speaker Series in Toronto on June 5. Livestreaming is available. Gradual return to work (GRTW) provides workers recovering from an injury with the opportunity to limit or modify work tasks and gradually build up work hours and work load with the goal of returning to full hours and duties. In this presentation, Dr. Esther Maas will present her research, which used detailed administrative workers’ compensation calendar data on return-to-work (RTW) in British Columbia to explore the effect of GRTW on sustained RTW. She will also discuss opportunities for using population-based data to analyse the costs and effects of GRTW to improve RTW outcomes.
Tuesday, June 5, 2018
11 am – 12 pm
Institute for Work & Health
481 University Avenue, Suite 800
Toronto, Ontario
Register
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May 2018: PWHS is seeking a technical writer and project coordinator to join our research team in learning from occupational health big data to create safer and more secure workplaces.
Job description
The Partnership for Work, Health and Safety brings together researchers, policymakers, and data resources from the University of BC School of Population and Public Health, WorkSafeBC (the Workers’ Compensation Board of BC), and external partners to address current and emerging issues of work-related health and workers’ compensation in innovative ways, using both quantitative and qualitative methods. The Technical Writer will use their knowledge and experience in research strategies, methodologies, protocol writing, and preparation of publications to lead the writing of technical and research reports, research and policy briefs, and academic and knowledge user presentations. They will also be responsible for the development of documentation strategies for data cleaning and analysis and will serve as a project coordinator, identifying timelines and milestones and performing necessary reporting and communications, both internally and externally, to the Partnership’s stakeholders.
Desired skills and experience
- Bachelor’s degree in a technical or communication discipline. Graduate degree in a health or social science discipline preferred.
- Training in project management and technical writing.
- Minimum three years of experience working in project management and/or technical writing, with proven experience in technical writing and coordination of multi-stakeholder and time-sensitive projects.
- Ability to write in explanatory and procedural styles for multiple audiences and to effectively manage multiple tasks and priorities
- Effective oral and written communication skills and ability to work both independently and as part of a team.
- Ability to maintain accuracy and attention to detail within a privacy sensitive environment.
About our organization
The Partnership for Work, Health and Safety takes the lead in work-related health research in BC by developing and promoting the use of routinely collected health and compensation data from multiple sources via our data partner, Population Data BC. The data allows us to conduct research on the entire working-age population over a 25 year period, providing a unique and comprehensive portrait of the health and well being of BC’s workers. Our research results inform the design of evidence-based policies and prevention programs to create safer and more secure workplaces, and help improve opportunities for recovery after injuries occur. Our team is comprised of a diverse and multidisciplinary group of faculty, students, and staff, situated in the School of Population and Public Health in the Faculty of Medicine at UBC.
To apply
Apply via the UBC Staff Careers website, or email Partnership Director of Privacy and Operations Suhail Marino at suhail.marino@ubc.ca.
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May 2018: PWHS Co-director Chris McLeod is a co-author on two new papers in Occupational & Environmental Medicine examining lung cancer risks across different occupations and industries in Ontario and the burden of lung cancer attributable to diesel engine exhaust exposure across Canada.
Kim J, Peters C, Arrandale V, et al. Burden of lung cancer attributable to occupational diesel engine exhaust exposure in Canada. Occup Environ Med. Published Online First: 28 April 2018.
Jung J, Feinstein S, Palma Lazgare L, et al. Examining lung cancer risks across different industries and occupations in Ontario, Canada: the establishment of the Occupational Disease Surveillance System. Occup Environ Med. Published Online First: 07 May 2018.
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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.
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April 2018: Our new study in PLOS ONE examined the association between multiple versus single jobholding and time to RTW for workers with a work-related musculoskeletal disorder. Multiple jobholders were less likely to RTW compared to single jobholders within the first six months after the first time-loss day, with greater and longer lasting effects for males, workers with a serious injury, and a higher wage.
More from PLOS ONE.
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CARWH 2018: Research and Practice to Improve Health in a Changing World of Work, the Canadian Association for Research on Work and Health Conference, will take place on October 21-23, 2018 at the Pinnacle Hotel Harbourfront in Vancouver. The conference organizers welcome abstracts from researchers, students, and practitioners conducting work and health research. Abstracts may be submitted for oral presentations and posters.
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January 2018: Using population-based data in BC over one year, we constructed nine return-to-work trajectory clusters after a work-related musculoskeletal injury. Workers with back strains were most likely to have early sustained return-to-work trajectories; whereas, workers with fractures or dislocations were more likely to have sickness absence trajectories or non-return-to-work trajectories. These results can guide approaches and interventions designed to improve return-to-work outcomes.
More from the Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health.
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January 2018: PWHS researchers, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students are giving a series of presentations on workplace violence, return to work trajectories after musculoskeletal injuries, OHS data development, and the burden of work disability at the Cascadia Occupational, Environmental, and Population Health Conference, January 4-5, in Abbotsford, BC.
Thursday, January 4
Improving health at work: Why it’s so hard to go beyond healthy lifestyle activities? The case of the Quebec Healthy Enterprise Standard
France St-Hilaire, PWHS Visiting Scholar
Age, sex, and the changing burden of work disability in Canada and Australia
Robert Macpherson, PWHS Postdoctoral Fellow
Friday, January 5
Violence and return to work after work injury in health care workers in British Columbia
Kelvin Choi, PWHS MSc Student
A multistate model to examine gradual-return-to-work transitions between return-to-work states in a cohort of workers with work-related musculoskeletal disorders
Esther Maas, PWHS Postdoctoral Fellow
Anxiety disorders and return-to-work following musculoskeletal injury
Andrea Jones, PWHS PhD Student
The power of data: The development and validation of an audit database of a multidimensional OHS scale
Rachel Cliff/Niloufar Saffari, PWHS Research Assistants
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August 2017: Partnership Co-directors Mieke Koehoorn and Chris McLeod, researcher Jonathan Fan, postdoctoral fellows Robert Macpherson and Esther Maas, and graduate students Kelvin Choi, Andrea Jones, and Amy Hall are presenting at EPICOH 2017, the 26th International Epidemiology in Occupational Health Conference, August 28-31, in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Tuesday, August 28, 11:00 – 12:45pm (Oral Presentation)
Examining exposure assessment in shift work research: a study on depression among nurses
Amy Hall
Tuesday, August 28, 12:45 – 2:30pm (Poster Session)
Anxiety and depressive diagnoses among workers with musculoskeletal injury
Andrea Jones
Tuesday, August 28, 1:45 – 2:30pm (Poster Walks)
Violence in healthcare: how does it affect return-to-work after work injury?
Kelvin Choi
Determinants of modified work as part of the return-to-work process for injured workers with musculoskeletal injuries in British Columbia, Canada
Mieke Koehoorn
Wednesday, August 29, 10:45 – 12:30pm (Oral Presentation)
Disability and workplace harassment and discrimination among Canadian federal public service employees
Andrea Jones
Wednesday, August 29, 12:30 – 2:15pm (Poster Session)
Leading and lagging indicators for the prevention of violence towards workers in health care
Chris McLeod
Wednesday, August 29, 1:30 – 2:15pm (Poster Walks)
Return-to-work for multiple jobholders with a work-related musculoskeletal disorder: a population-based, matched cohort in British Columbia
Esther Maas
Wednesday, August 29, 2:15 – 4:00pm (Oral Presentations)
How do gender and jurisdiction interact with work disability duration?
Robert Macpherson
Labor market and health trajectories during periods of economic recession and expansion in the United States, 1988-2011
Jonathan Fan
Thursday, August 30, 4:30 – 6:00pm (Oral Presentation)
Are gender differences in disability duration for work-related musculoskeletal injuries explained by health care utilization?
Mieke Koehoorn
Thursday, August 30, 12:45 – 2:15pm (Poster Session)
Gender, age, and the changing burden of work-related disability in Canada and Australia
Robert Macpherson
All times GMT
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Our postdoc Esther Maas’s dissertation work on radiofrequency denervation treatment for low back pain was covered in the New York Times. The full article is in JAMA.
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July 2017: PWHS co-director Chris McLeod has been promoted to Associate Professor in the School of Population and Public Health at UBC. Congratulations Chris!
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June 2017: Congratulations to PWHS PhD student Sharon Provost, the recipient of a UBC Public Scholars Initiative award, and to PhD student Kimberly Sharpe, the recipient of a WorkSafeBC Research Training Award.
Sharon is an Interdisciplinary Studies PhD student combining Population and Public Health, Organizational Behaviour/Human Resources, and Nursing to explore factors contributing to sustaining a psychologically safe and healthy work environment for health care workers.
Kimberly is a Population and Public Health PhD student looking at regional variation in hospital admissions, surgeries, physician visits, and diagnostic tests in in workers’ compensation systems in BC, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, and New Brunswick. Her research will lead to a better understanding of differences in access to health care and the impact these differences may have on disability duration and return-to-work outcomes.
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May 2017: PWHS Co-Director Mieke Koehoorn has been awarded a Project Grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, along with co-investigators Ute Bultmann, Chris McLeod, and Stephanie Premji.
Immigration defines our nation and, for the majority of immigrants and their families, work is a cornerstone to successful integration into Canadian life. Within the Canadian context, we know much about the health outcomes and the employment patterns of immigrants, but less about the impact of work on health, in particular on work disability experiences and the longer term health consequences of work disability. Emerging evidence suggests that immigrants to Canada have different experiences to Canadian-born workers. Longer disability durations for immigrant workers may be attributed to more severe work injuries in higher risk jobs; and to barriers navigating health care, employer and insurance benefits systems for optimal return to work outcomes. Evidence also suggests important differences in work disability experiences for women and young workers immigrating to Canada. Using a unique research opportunity that will merge immigration data with workers’ compensation and medical services data for the working population of British Columbia, the purpose of this study is to describe differences in work disability experiences, along the continuum from injury to rehabilitation to return-to-work and to longer term health outcomes, among immigrant workers compared to Canadian-born workers. Evidence of different experiences and of determinants of these differences, are necessary inputs for discussions and ultimately decisions by policy makers, employers and regulators/insurers to reduce barriers and health inequities, and improve return-to-work outcomes for all workers, including immigrants.
Learn more about the Project Grant
See the results of our previous work in this area: Immigration status and work disability duration
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May 2017: PWHS postdoctoral fellow Esther Maas has been awarded a fellowship from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
Abstract
Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) such as sprains and strains are the second most common cause of disability worldwide. Disability rates due to MSDs increased 45% from 1990 to 2010. MSDs are a major problem in the workforce, and account for the highest disability costs (yearly almost $15 billion) in Canada. Workplace interventions that aim to reduce disability duration for people with work-related MSDs show only limited effects. Policies that mandate certain workplace practices may be important to reduce work disability. Modified return-to-work (MRTW) is a key policy to prevent and reduce the work disability due to MSDs. MRTW gives workers the opportunity to gradually increase working hours and work load, and to limit or modify work tasks while recovering from in injury. Many Canadian employers offer MRTW, but its effectiveness is unknown. I have the opportunity to use unique data with information from workers in British Columbia (BC) with a MSD to investigate the effectiveness of MRTW to increase successful and sustainable RTW. I will perform this project in three phases:
- Define individual RTW processes during one year after injury,
- Investigate the relationship between worker characteristics and the RTW process, and
- Assess the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of MRTW in the RTW process.
The ultimate goal is to improve the implementation of MRTW and reduce the duration of work-disability for more successful and sustainable RTW. The research will be conducted at The Partnership of Work Health and Safety at the University of British Columbia (UBC). The Partnership brings together policy-makers, researchers and data resources from the UBC and the provincial workers’ compensation system. They address current and emerging issues of work-related health in BC, which ensures the impact of the study results on policy.
Learn more
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May 2017: We are recruiting construction-sector stakeholders, including policy makers, practitioners, health and safety associations, employers, unions, and workers, to participate in key informant interviews on organizational return-to-work and disability management policies and practices. These interviews will form a key source of data for a project identifying construction sector-specific barriers and facilitators to early and safe return to work.
Learn more about the project: Return to work in the construction sector
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May 2017: PWHS graduate student Anita Minh has been awarded a Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarship from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research for her PhD research, supervised by PWHS Co-Director Chris McLeod.
Abstract
Mental illness affects society as much as it does the individuals who experience it. Population health research consistently finds that people who experience symptoms of depression and anxiety in childhood are more likely to have poor academic outcomes and drop out of school, negatively impacting their chances for employment. Poor and disadvantaged children suffer disproportionately. Yet while social inequalities in mental health occurs in all high-income societies, the extent of inequality and its impact on future employment varies substantially. These cross-national differences imply that the children’s mental health and their later employment outcomes are not attributable solely to health selection, but are related to the political and economic institutions that define health and labour market entry. This research uses longitudinal data from five countries in North America and Europe to examine how differences in the provision of social protections and labour institutions produce inequalities in health and employment from childhood to early adulthood. Regression methods will be used to identify youth’s mental health trajectories and to examine the association with employment. Cross national differences will be examined using comparative methods. The findings will contextualize health selection and youth unemployment within social, political and economic settings, helping governments to identify systematic and context-specific barriers to youth labour market entry.
Learn more
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April 2017: The Partnership for Work, Health and Safety and WorkSafeBC were proud to present the inaugural Roberta Ellis Award for Excellence in the Study and Practice of Occupational and Environmental Health to Nicole Boeder, a second year MSc student in occupational and environmental health (OEH) in the UBC School of Population and Public Health (SPPH) on April 7, 2017.
Nicole Boeder was selected as the first recipient of this $1,000 award by the SPPH OEH Awards Committee, based on excellence in her OEH co-op practicum at Teck Resources in Trail, BC. At Teck Nicole reports that she applied the fundamentals of hygiene practice, such as anticipation, recognition, evaluation, and control of occupational and environmental hazards, in order to manage and prevent the occurrence of occupational disease. She completed the MSc program in December 2016 and will be attending her graduation ceremony this May. She is now working at the Vancouver Airport Authority in health and safety.
This award, supported this year by the Partnership for Work, Health and Safety and WorkSafeBC and in the future by WorkSafeBC, will be awarded annually to an SPPH student who has demonstrated excellence in coursework, practicum, or research in the area of occupational and environmental health. The award was initiated to honour the longstanding support of Roberta Ellis in the education and training of students in this area.
Roberta Ellis retired from WorkSafeBC in 2016 as a champion for using research and evidence to inform policy and practice. The Partnership for Work, Health and Safety and its Co-Directors, Mieke Koehoorn and Chris McLeod, thank her for her passion and vision for occupational health and safety and workers’ compensation policy in this province and beyond.
Thank you for your support and leadership Roberta, and congratulations Nicole.
Chris McLeod, Nicole Boeder, and Roberta Ellis
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April 2017: On Friday April 8, WorkSafeBC is hosting a Research Day, open to all WorkSafeBC staff and management, with the goal of getting non-scientist research users excited about the innovative research WorkSafeBC supports. The morning session, Innovative Ideas, will feature short talks about respiratory problems for wildland firefighters, testing fall arrest systems, wearable technology for MSI prevention, and nanoparticles. A poster session at lunch will feature posters by PWHS Postdoctoral fellow Esther Maas (Multiple jobholders are less likely to return-to-work than single jobholders) and PWHS PhD student Andrea Jones (Anxiety and depressive disorders among workers with musculoskeletal injury). PWHS researchers Niloufar Saffari and Chris McLeod will give presentations in the afternoon:
Immigration Status and Work Disability Duration in British Columbia
Niloufar Saffari, PWHS Research Assistant
This presentation shares the results of a study based on a novel data linkage between Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada data and WorkSafeBC work-related injury claims data in BC. It examines whether immigrant workers who suffer work disability experience different workers’ compensation claim and return-to-work outcomes compared to Canadian-born workers. Findings indicate that both recent and established immigrant workers experience longer episodes of work disability after work injury compared to Canadian-born workers. Immigrants may face barriers to returning to work following a work-related injury compared to Canadian born workers and may require additional supports to facilitate timely return to work. More about this project
Moving towards Action on Ending Violence in Health Care
Chris McLeod, PWHS Co-Director
Violence towards workers in health care is a critical workplace health and safety issue and current approaches have not been successful at reducing the risk of violence. This presentation summarized current evidence about violence prevention based on research literature and consultations with and key informant interview of front line and management staff in two BC health authorities. We summarized current data available to measure and assess the risk of violence in health care settings, identify data and knowledge gaps, and present a newly developed framework that can help guide the development and evaluation of violence prevention activities. More about this project
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April 2017: PWHS research assistant and MSc graduate Niloufar Saffari and Co-Director Chris McLeod, Saffari’s thesis supervisor, presented the results of Saffari’s thesis examining differences in disability duration after a work injury for immigrant and Canadian-born workers to the WorkSafeBC Interorganization Committee (IOC) Conference on April 6, 2017. Their talk, entitled Lost in Translation: How do immigrant workers in BC fare after a work injury?, opened the conference, and was followed by a keynote address by Lionel Laroche of MultiCultural Business Solutions about effectively communicating with culturally different people, and an introduction to the plans for the commemoration of WorkSafeBC’s 100 year anniversary. Attendees included senior members of WorkSafeBC, the Review Division and Fair Practices Office, the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Tribunal, the Employers’ Advisers Organization, Workers’ Advisers Organization, and the Ministry of Jobs, Tourism & Skills Training and Minister Responsible for Labour.
Saffari and McLeod shared their finding that immigrant workers do experience longer disability durations when compared to Canadian-born workers. The relationship between disability duration and immigrant status is especially strong for men, younger workers, and more established immigrants (>10 years in Canada). The idea for the work was sparked by Saffari’s personal experience as an immigrant to Canada and as the wife of an injured immigrant worker. This study is the first time that injury claim data from WorkSafeBC and data on permanent residents from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has been linked. Detailed findings from this novel research are available: Immigration status and work disability duration in British Columbia
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March 2017: PWHS Research Manager Billy Quirke will give a presentation about applying the IWH organizational performance metric in the BC long-term care and manufacturing sectors at SPPH OEH Rounds on Friday, March 31, at noon.
Learn more about our work on leading indicators: Occupational health and safety practices survey
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March 2017: The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) of Ontario has awarded a grant to our co-director Chris McLeod to improve return-to-work outcomes in the construction sector, by exploring international best practices, identifying indicators of good performance in BC, Alberta, and Manitoba, and assessing WSIB Work Integration policies and practices.
Learn more about the project: Early and safe return to work in the construction sector
View news release from the WSIB: WSIB Funds Research to Help Injured Workers Recover and Return to Work
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March 2017: Chris McLeod and Suhail Marino travelled to Alberta this month to meet with stakeholders at Alberta Labour and the Alberta Workers Compensation Board. They presented on the COR evaluation and our provincial comparative work on return to work after injury.
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January 2017: Our Co-Director Chris McLeod is in Ottawa and Montreal this month presenting our work to stakeholders at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) on Jan. 26 and Institut de recherche Robert-Sauvé en santé et sécurité du travail (IRSST) on Jan. 27.
At IRCC Chris will present the results of a novel study marking the first linkage of injury claim data from WorkSafeBC with immigration data from IRCC. This work, led by Niloufar Saffari, aimed to identify and understand differences in the experiences of immigrant- and Canadian-born workers with the BC workers’ compensation system, finding that both recent and established immigrants have longer disability durations after injury than Canadian-born workers, especially younger immigrant workers and recent immigrant men. These findings will help guide improvements in disability management policies and return-to-work programs.
At IRSST Chris will share results of our work comparing disability durations for similar injuries and occupations across Canadian provinces, and discuss future collaboration opportunities. Learn more about this interjurisdictional work.
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November 25, 2016: PWHS student Niloufar Saffari graduated from UBC today after successfully defending her MSc thesis in August. Her work aimed to identify and understand differences in the experiences of immigrant- and Canadian-born workers with the BC workers’ compensation system. Her novel study marked the first linkage of injury claim data from WorkSafeBC with data from Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
Results indicate that both recent and established immigrants have longer disability durations after injury than Canadian-born workers, especially younger immigrant workers and recent immigrant men. These findings will help guide improvements in disability management policies and return-to-work programs.
Congratulations Niloufar!
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November 2016: WorkSafeBC has launched an asbestos awareness campaign for homeowners. Find out how to know if you have asbestos in your home, and how to safely deal with it during renovations.
Interested in our asbestos-related work: Read about asbestosis surveillance and mesothelioma awareness and compensation.
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October 2016: Partnership Co-director Mieke Koehoorn, Research Manager Billy Quirke, postdoctoral fellows Robert Macpherson and Wei Zhang, and PhD student Amy Hall are attending CARWH 2016, the Canadian Association for Research on Work and Health biennial conference, October 16-18, in Toronto, Ontario, to present on interprovincial, gender, and immigration-related differences in disability duration after work injury, gender differences in return to work trajectories, effects of chronic disease on work productivity loss, and opportunities for intervention in shiftwork practices.
On Monday, October 17, at 12:45pm, Mieke Koehoorn will give a plenary talk entitled Gender, Work and Health: Research Applications across Disciplines.
Sunday, October 16, 5:30 – 7:00pm (Poster Session)
Gender differences in work disability duration across three workers’ compensation systems in Canada
Robert Macpherson
Does immigration status affect work disability duration for injured workers in Canada?
Niloufar Saffari (presented by Mieke Koehoorn)
Organizational characteristics associated with shiftwork practices and opportunities for intervention: Results from a survey of shiftwork employers in British Columbia, Canada
Amy Hall
The effects of chronic conditions on absenteeism in Canada
Wei Zhang
Monday, October 17, 10:15 – 11:45am (Oral Presentations)
Gender differences in detailed return-to-work trajectories following a workers’ compensation claim for musculoskeletal injury
Mieke Koehoorn
Estimating occupational exposure to antineoplastic agents in Canada (CAREX Canada)
Amy Hall
Tuesday, October 18, 10:30 – 11:45am (Oral Presentation)
Disability duration after work injury: A comparative analysis in British Columbia, Manitoba and Ontario, by sector and time
William Quirke
All times EST
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October 2016: WorkSafeBC has provided funds to assess and develop the BC Construction Safety Alliance’s Occupational Health and Safety Certificate of Recognition (COR) audit database, in preparation for a future investigation of the effect of the COR program on firm injury claim rates. The Alberta Ministry of Labour has awarded funds to evaluate the effect of COR on firm-level injury rates in Alberta through the OHS Futures Research Funding Program.
Learn more about our More about our COR evaluation in BC: Certificate of Recognition Audit Program
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September 2016: Partnership Co-director Chris McLeod and Research Manager Suhail Marino are at EPICOH 2016, the 25th Annual Epidemiology in Occupational Health Conference, September 4-7, in Barcelona, Spain, to present on comparative analyses of work disability duration, leading indicators of health and safety performance, data access and linkage, and differences in disability duration between immigrant and Canadian-born workers.
Monday, September 5, 1:30 – 3:00pm
Does being an immigrant affect work disability duration for injured workers in Canada? [Poster session]
Chris McLeod
Monday, September 5, 3:00 – 5:30pm
Work disability duration: A comparative analysis of Canadian provinces
Chris McLeod
Monday, September 5, 3:00 – 5:30pm
Leading Indicators: Applying the Institute of Work and Health (IWH) Organizational Performance Metric (OPM) to British Columbia (BC), Canada
Suhail Marino
Monday, September 5, 4:30 – 6:00pm
Data access and linkage, privacy and ethical concerns in epidemiological studies using administrative data: A Canadian perspective
Suhail Marino
All times CEST
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July 2016: Professor Mieke Koehoorn (Co-Director, Partnership for Work, Health and Safety and Head, Occupational and Environmental Health Division, CIHR Chair in Gender, Work and Health, University of British Columbia) and Associate Professor John Calvert (Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University) are seeking Expressions of Interest for a one-year postdoctoral fellowship funded by the Centre for Research on Work Disability Policy (CRWDP). The funded postdoctoral position will be located at Simon Fraser University and will focus on the Canadian work disability policy system.
The Canadian work disability policy system includes federal, provincial and territorial programs, in the public and private sectors. Collectively, these programs shape income security and labour-market engagement for work-disabled individuals. A key challenge of the current system is lack of coordination and navigability of programs, which can create barrier to accessing needed supports for Canadian workers when disabled.
The successful candidate should be interested in researching topics related to the Canadian work disability policy system. Cross-jurisdictional comparative policy analysis is also within scope, as long as the research plan has a substantial Canadian component. A focus should be given to improving access to supports and/or facilitating participation in the paid labour force. The research can explore a wide range of work-disabled individuals/populations in a variety of employment settings.
CRWDP is a partnership of academics and representatives from various organizations and groups within the work disability policy system. As such, it is important that all research includes active engagement of partners. The British Columbia (BC) cluster within CRWDP works closely with employers, trade unions, disability advocacy organizations and others groups that have an interest in work disability and return to work policy. One of the strengths of the BC cluster is the support it has received from trade union partners who have indicated that they welcome research on policy issues affecting their members. The successful candidate would be expected to draw upon the knowledge and resources of labour, disability community groups and other partner organizations in carrying out her/his research.
Applicants from a range of social science/occupational health/disability-related disciplines and fields are encouraged to submit Expressions of Interest including resume/curriculum vitae and a research plan. The successful candidate will need to have completed a Ph.D. prior to taking up the postdoctoral fellowship. Ideally, the candidate should be available to begin no later than December 1, 2016. Please submit your Expression of Interest to Dr. John Calvert (jrc@sfu.ca) by September 15, 2016.
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June 2016: Partnership co-directors Mieke Koehoorn and Chris McLeod and PhD student Andrea Jones are at PREMUS 2016, the 9th International Scientific Conference on the Prevention of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders, June 20-23, to present on gender and other factors affecting return to work and surgical decision making after work-related musculoskeletal injury.
Monday, June 20, 1:30pm – 3:00pm
Demographic, clinical and work-related factors associated with return-to-work trajectories for musculoskeletal disorders
Chris McLeod
Tuesday, June 21, 1:30pm – 3:00pm
Differences in disability duration for musculoskeletal injuries by sex/gender: an emerging issue for management of work-related MSDs
Mieke Koehoorn
Wednesday, June 22, 3:30pm – 5:00pm
The impact of gender on surgical decision-making following workplace musculoskeletal injury
Andrea Jones
Thursday, June 23, 10:30am – 12:00pm
Panel on gender, work and musculoskeletal disorders
Considering sex and gender in occupational health policies and program
Mieke Koehoorn
All times EDT
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June 2016: We are pleased to announce that our Partnership funding agreement with WorkSafeBC has been renewed for another 5 year term at $1.54 million. Looking forward to continuing this productive partnership!
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June 2016: The Institute for Work and Health has summarized our findings from the COR evaluation in a video card. Learn more about COR.
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June 2016: Partnership MSc student Kelvin Choi is the recipient of a WorkSafeBC Research Training Award for his thesis work on workplace violence. More about our work in this area
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May 2016: Our co-director Chris McLeod is a 2016 Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Scholar Program award recipient for his comparative and cross-jurisdictional research on work and health. His work will explore the development of social, economic, and workplace policies that improve worker health and reduce health inequalities over the working life course. Expanding on existing collaborations, Chris will work with national and international researchers, compensation boards, and work disability insurers from Canadian provinces, Australia and New Zealand to understand work disability and return-to-work management, and develop intervention mechanisms that can effectively prevent and reduce the burden of work injury and disease. More about our research in this area.
Award details: A Comparative and Cross-Jurisdictional Research Program on Work And Health
My program of research concerns how we can develop social, economic, and workplace policies that improve worker health and reduce health inequalities over the working life course. This program builds on existing national and international research and stakeholder collaborations and is structured around a series of comparative and cross-jurisdictional studies on occupational health and safety and workers’ compensation.
The broad aim of this research program will be to expand current comparative research funded by CIHR and various workers compensation boards in order to develop an enduring policy and practice network that creates research and data infrastructure and a knowledge exchange and mobilization hub that will support further comparative studies and facilitate the translation of results into policy and practice.
This program brings together national and international researchers and compensation boards and work disability insurers from Canadian provinces, Australian states and New Zealand. It has five objectives:
1. Build and expand the network of compensation boards, researchers and other stakeholders to create a network that can identify, guide and inform the focus of the cross jurisdictional policy comparisons;
2. Expand the current comparative cross-provincial dataset on workers’ compensation to include all Canadian compensation boards’ data and a broader set of comparable variables;
3. Work with international partners to create a more limited set of comparable data that would permit comparisons across a range of international jurisdictions;
4. Conduct policy-relevant, hypothesis driven research with the comparative data to examine differences in and the effectiveness of different approaches to improving work disability outcomes; and,
5. Utilize the policy and researcher network to effectively translate the results into inform policy and practice.
This research will improve our understanding of effective work disability and RTW management and provide evidence on the mechanisms through which we can effectively intervene in preventing and reducing the burden of work injury and disease. This research program will advance our understanding of work-related disability in British Columbia, Canada and internationally. It innovates by developing and extending comparative methods and by building and extending data and research partnerships that will have long-standing and practical impact.
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International Visiting Research Scholar Dr. Ute Bültmann will give a public talk at the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies at UBC on May 18, 2016.
Abstract:
Good work is fundamental to life—as is good health. Work and health are interdependent. In view of changing demographics, work and labour markets, and social contexts, the key challenges to be addressed in work and health research and practice are 1) to minimize ill-health and its effects on work functioning, 2) to ensure good physical and psychosocial work environments, and 3) to accomplish these challenges across the widening socio-economic gradient and across the life course. Why a life course lens when looking at work and health? Detailed knowledge about the life transitions people make, e.g., from school to work, changing careers or the transition out of work towards retirement—and the impact of these transitions on trajectories of health, well-being and work functioning—is lacking. To deepen our understanding of the dynamic interplay between work and health, a life-course epidemiological perspective is needed. If we succeed in adopting a life course perspective and translating our findings into relevant policy and practice interventions, researchers, health care professionals, employers and policy makers can make a difference towards “healthy working lives.”
Speaker:
Dr. Ute Bültmann is Professor of Work and Health, in particular from a life-course epidemiological perspective, and Program Leader of Public Health Research at the Department of Health Sciences, Community and Occupational Medicine, University Medical Center Groningen, at the University of Groningen, NL. Her research focuses on the epidemiology of work and health, and measurement of health-related functioning at work.
This event is free and open to the public. Register now.
When:
May 18th, 2016
4-5 pm, public talk
5-6 pm, reception
Location:
6331 Crescent Road
University Centre
Seminar Room (307)
University of BC
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March 2016: Partnership co-lead Chris McLeod will present a UBC School of Population and Public Health Occupational and Environmental Health seminar: Return-to-work is not a single event: Our evolving understanding of return-to-work trajectories after work injury. The seminar is on Friday, March 18, 12:30 – 1:30 pm. A live webinar option is available.
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March 2016: Partnership co-lead Chris McLeod will present at the American Industrial Hygiene Association BC-Yukon Local Section 2016 Conference and Annual General Meeting on March 11. His talk is entitled Health and Safety Management and Occupational Hygiene: National and International Perspective.
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December 2015: Partnership co-lead Mieke Koehoorn and Kay Techke will discuss the results of their study of rates of cycling injury hospitalization across provinces by sex, age, helmet legislation, and bicycling mode share at Grand Rounds in the UBC School of Population and Public Health on Friday, December 4, at 9am. A live webinar option is available.
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November 2015: Partnership co-lead Mieke Koehoorn will give a seminar on sex and gender in health research on December 2 as part of the Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcome Sciences (CHEOS) Work in Progress Seminar Series.
The Difference that Sex and Gender Make in Health Research
Mieke Koehoorn
Work in Progress Seminar Series
Hurlburt Auditorium, St. Paul’s Hospital
December 2, 2015
12-1pm
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September 2015: On Sept 18, Chris McLeod and George Astrakianakis will present our work on violence prevention in health care settings. We are building on existing research into effective violence prevention and occupational health and safety management to develop leading and lagging indicators to best measure the effect of violence prevention initiatives in BC.
More information about our work in this area: Violence prevention programs in health care
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