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.
Research Highlights
Young workers out of school, with no diploma, more likely to be injured
Young workers who are not in school have higher injury rates, suggesting that additional workplace training programs may be needed outside of the formal school system to reach more at-risk young workers.
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Sharing Best Evidence
Factors for success in participatory ergonomics
In participatory ergonomics (PE), a team works together to identify risks, and change tools, equipment and work processes to improve workplace conditions. PE programs can reduce work-related injuries to muscles, tendons, ligaments and other soft tissues. This systematic review identifies the factors that can increase the likelihood of a successful PE program in workplaces.
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Research Highlights
Does chiropractic care for neck pain increase stroke risk?
Despite reports linking chiropractic care with vertebrobasilar artery (VBA) stroke, this study finds no evidence that visits to a chiropractor increase the risk of a stroke.
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Research Highlights
How can non-researchers get involved in research?
An approach used by the Institute for Work & Health to involve non-researchers in systematic reviews offers several benefits, providing the basis for the inclusion of stakeholders as a permanent step of conducting reviews.
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Research Highlights
For many workers, neck pain lasts at least a year
Neck pain is a persistent and recurring problem in workers. About 60 per cent of workers who experienced neck pain reported having it one year later.
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Research Highlights
OHS risks in social service organizations
Working in a not-for-profit social service organization can be rewarding, but the job can come with health risks. However, a study finds the organization's mission can be a powerful concept in non-profit organizations, resulting in workers putting their clients’ well-being before their own.
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Research Highlights
First return to work after injury doesn't always mean full recovery
Even after they first return to work, people with MSDs may still experience pain, depressive symptoms and work limitations, according to a study on recurring absences.
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Research Highlights
Long-term health effects seen in injured youth
Workers aged 15 to 24 with a compensation claim, when cto their peers without a claim, have higher levels of health-care use, both before and after their injury. That's especially true for young women with claims.
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Research Highlights
Neck pain patients can be triaged into four groups
Clinicians who assess patients with neck pain should triage them into one of the four categories or grades to determine the need for further diagnosis or treatment.
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Research Highlights
Chiropractic schools teach evidence-based X-ray use
The use of X-rays by chiropractors, especially for low-back pain, has long been controversial. According to this study, instruction at most chiropractic schools seems to be following evidence-based guidelines on the use of X-rays for managing many aspects of low-back pain.
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Research Highlights
Neck pain common among adults, review shows
The first review summarizing studies about the impact and causes of neck pain in the general population finds it a common condition. Risk factors include age, gender and genetics, as well as smoking, exposure to tobacco, and psychological health.
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Research Highlights
Temp workers have similar work-related sick days as permanent workers
Temporary work does not appear to increase the rate of work-related injury or illness absences lasting a week or longer. What's more, those with multiple temporary jobs had fewer absence spells.
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At Work article
New tool helps bridge clinical practice and research world
The Institute for Work & Health has launched a new clinical commentary tool, Practice Perspectives. It emerged from a clinician-scientist collaboration in which physiotherapists provided direct input into a research project.
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At Work article
Team evaluates participatory ergonomic programs
A unique partnership involving workplaces, researchers and health and safety experts is tackling a problem in electrical and utilities companies that concerns many workplaces: musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs).
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At Work article
Institute viewed as a top work-health research centre globally
The Institute for Work & Health (IWH) “easily ranks” among the top five occupational health and safety research centres in the world and has made “remarkable progress” in advancing work-health knowledge over the past five years. These assessments were made by an international panel convened to evaluate the quality, relevance and impact of the Institute’s work from 2002 to 2006.
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