Monthly news and research findings from the Institute for Work & Health

IWH News

September 2018

Benefits outweigh costs for workplaces that accommodate people with mental illness


Workplaces stand to gain from hiring and accommodating people with mental illness. This is according to a study on the business case for employing people with mental illness, conducted by the Mental Health Commission of Canada and including economic analyses by the Institute for Work & Health (IWH)’s Dr. Emile Tompa. As summarized in a recent At Work article, the economic benefits for employers range from two to seven dollars for every dollar spent—and that’s not counting real benefits that can’t be quantified.


Read the article

Men and women with arthritis have same workplace support needs, but different access


Do men and women with arthritis have different workplace accommodation needs? And do they differ in their access to workplace supports to meet these needs? A study published by IWH’s Dr. Monique Gignac recently examined these questions. It found unequal levels of access to support, which can be explained by the types of work that men and women do.


Read about the study

Save the date: Dr. Paul Demers delivers IWH’s annual Nachemson lecture November 28


On November 28, please join us at IWH’s 2018 Alf Nachemson Memorial Lecture where Dr. Paul Demers, director of the Occupational Cancer Research Centre (OCRC), will discuss the role of research and policy in preventing occupational disease in Canada. He will review the distinct research challenges in establishing a causal relationship between workplace exposures and the onset of disease, describe the process by which important international agencies establish a scientific consensus on disease causation arising from work exposures, highlight past successes in occupational disease prevention in Canada, and outline his perspective on opportunities to move forward the occupational disease prevention agenda in Canada. The event, taking place at the Design Exchange in downtown Toronto, is free and open to the public.


Find out more and register

New IWH Speaker Series season begins soon. Sign up now!


What design challenges need to be considered before policy-makers develop and implement work disability prevention interventions? The IWH Speaker Series launches its 2018/19 season on September 28 with this thought-provoking presentation by Dr. Bill Shaw of the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. Then, on October 2, Dr. Richard Wells of the Centre of Research Expertise for the Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders (CRE-MSD) presents the new MSD Prevention Guideline for Ontario. This is a chance to hear about the newly revised guideline, which is being launched the day before as part of Global Ergonomics Month. IWH Speaker Series presentations are free and open to the public; you can attend in person or via webinar. See our Events page for details and subscribe here for email notifications of upcoming presentations.


Go to IWH’s Events page

Congrats to our 2018/19 Syme fellows


Two early-career researchers have been awarded the 2018/19 S. Leonard Syme Training Fellowships in Work & Health. The two fellows are Corey McAuliffe, PhD candidate in social and behavioural health sciences at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health, and Julia Goyal, PhD candidate in public health and health systems at the University of Waterloo’s School of Public Health and Health Systems. Congratulations Corey and Julia. We look forward to working with you.


Learn about IWH’s fellowship opportunities

CRE-MSD and WWDPI offer two webinars on construction work and health topics


CRE-MSD is partnering with the Work Wellness and Disability Prevention Institute (WWDPI) to provide free educational webinars on various construction work health topics. On September 18, Dr. Jack Dennerlein of Northeastern University presents the Total Worker Health® intervention on commercial construction sites. On October 23, Dr. Kent Anger of Oregon Health & Science University discusses organizational and individual intervention methods that improved Total Worker Health® in construction workers. Register now to reserve your spot.


Go to the CRE-MSD Events page

For more information, please contact


Cindy Moser
Communications Manager
416-927-2027, ext. 2183
cmoser@iwh.on.ca

Uyen Vu
Communications Associate
613-979-7742
uvu@iwh.on.ca

IWH News is distributed monthly by the Institute for Work & Health, an independent, not-for-profit organization that conducts and shares research to protect and improve the health and safety of working people.


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