Mental health and work
Awareness is growing about the importance of how the work environment, in particular the psychosocial environment, can impact the mental health of workers. Awareness is also growing about the differing work accommodation and return-to-work needs of workers with mental—versus physical—health conditions. Our research aims to identify and measure psychosocial hazards and explore how dimensions of the psychosocial work environment can promote positive mental health or lead to poorer mental health. Our research also explores workplace and system-level strategies for helping workers with mental health conditions—including post-traumatic stress disorders—stay in and return to work.
Latest findings
Mental health of Canadians who work from home no better or worse than those working outside the home
Canadian adults who work from home report the same levels of mental health, life satisfaction and stress as those who work on-site at a workplace, or at no fixed location (on the road). That’s according to a study of survey data from almost 25,000 Canadians in 2022.
Parental job quality linked to children’s mental health, school performance
Children whose parents work low-quality, precarious jobs are more likely to experience mental health problems and perform poorly at school. That’s according to a pair of studies, co-led by the Institute for Work & Health (IWH), that drew on two large-scale Canadian surveys.
Preventing PTSI work disability at first responder organizations: perspectives from the workplace
In a multi-part study, an IWH team drew on interviews with leaders and members in first response services to learn what they’re currently doing to prevent PTSI work disability—and what barriers and facilitators they’ve experienced—to distill several recommendations.Featured guide
Learn what to do when you, your co-workers or employees experience depressive symptoms at work.
Featured resource
This summary of an IWH research project outlines challenges in return to work within police services related to three key themes: accommodation, communication and trust-building, all within the culture and context of policing.
