Plain-language summaries
Institute for Work & Health (IWH) plain-language summaries condense research findings in various formats. At Work articles explain study results with comments from the study leads. Research Highlights summarize journal articles in easy-to-read, digest formats. Sharing Best Evidence summaries highlight findings from systematic reviews and other types of reviews conducted or led by IWH researchers. Issue Briefings discuss key research findings from IWH or elsewhere on topics that are of particular interest to policy-makers.
At Work article
Are those who work shifts more at risk of work injury?
The number of Canadians working shifts other than a regular daytime schedule is on the rise. A new study suggests that those who work night or rotating shifts are more at risk of getting injured on the job.
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At Work article
The crystal ball: Predicting return to work following low-back pain
What factors affect how long it will take workers to return to work following an episode of acute low-back pain? A just-completed systematic review from the Institute for Work & Health points to a number of them, including workers’ recovery expectations and their interactions with health-care practitioners.
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Research Highlights
Changing work conditions in three provinces
A study examining changes in work conditions in three provinces between 1994 and 2003-2005 finds lower levels of job satisfaction, lower levels of decision authority and co-worker support, and higher likelihood of rotating shifts and long hours.
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Research Highlights
Changes in physiotherapy use for MSDs highlight inequality of access
Physiotherapy use and costs to treat musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) at a large Ontario workplace increased substantially over a 10-year period. The potential exists for unequal access to physiotherapy services among workers not privately insured or covered by their workplaces.
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Research Highlights
The role of health-care providers in complicated claims
Problematic interactions among health-care providers, injured workers and workers’ compensation boards may delay the return to work of injured workers with complicated claims. The result can be frustration, financial difficulties and mental health problems for injured workers.
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Research Highlights
Ontario youth work injury rate declining more steeply, converging with adult rate
From 1999 to 2007, the lost-time claim rate for young Ontario workers (ages 15 to 24) declined more steeply than the adult rate, and as a result the two rates are converging.
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Research Highlights
Precarious employment may affect worker health
A longitudinal study of a representative sample of Canadian workers finds certain work characteristics are linked with precarious employment and put workers at increased risk of poor physical health.
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Research Highlights
Work absenteeism and recurrent neck pain
A small but important minority—14 per cent—of injured workers experience recurrent neck pain, accounting for 40 per cent of all lost-time days due to neck pain, according to a study of claims made to Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board.
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Issue Briefing
A patchwork quilt: Income security for Canadians with disabilities
This Issue Briefing draws attention to the policy challenge of coordinating and aligning both the goals and the administration of at least seven different disability income security programs in Canada.
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At Work article
How modified work affects disability outcomes in long-term care
There is some evidence that modified work for injured workers in Ontario’s long-term care sector was associated with a lower burden of disability, according to an Institute for Work & Health (IWH) study.
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At Work article
IWH provides expertise to Ministry of Labour panel
The Institute for Work & Health (IWH) has been providing research expertise to a Ministry of Labour panel tasked with reviewing Ontario’s health and safety prevention and enforcement system.
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At Work article
IWH snapshot: Twenty years in the making
Find out how the Institute for Work & Health has grown from a small organization to a global leader in work-health research.
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At Work article
Probing the link between occupation and risk of suicide
Is it an urban myth that workers in certain occupations, such as dentists, are more likely to commit suicide, or not? It turns out that for most occupations, your job does not increase your risk of suicide.
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At Work article
Grant round-up: IWH research gets the green light
Scientists typically need two key components to carry out research: a well-grounded research proposal and strong financial support. Here is a scan of what’s recently been given the green light.
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At Work article
Prevention team develops tool to measure leading indicators
There may be a time in the near future where a simple tool may help predict a firm’s future injury experience – and help to focus health and safety efforts.
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At Work article
Evidence summary shows what works in treating neck pain
Clinicians have tried various approaches to help workers with neck pain – but some have been proven ineffective in research.
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At Work article
Research findings from CARWH conference now online
Workplace representatives, policy-makers and injured worker representatives shared the audience with researchers and students at the Canadian Association for Research on Work and Health (CARWH) conference held in Toronto in May.
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At Work article
New Canadian guideline released on opioid use for chronic non-cancer pain
A new evidence-based Canadian Guideline for Safe and Effective Use of Opioids for Chronic Non-cancer pain was released in May.
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Issue Briefing
Shift work and health
Shift work — employment with anything other than a regular daytime work schedule — makes up a large part of work in the Canadian economy. For at least 50 years, researchers have been exploring the question of whether working shifts poses a health hazard. This briefing summarizes the findings of a selection of this research, including several review articles.
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