Return to work, accommodation and support

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.

Published: October 2022

A high proportion of injured workers in Ontario experience persistent pain for well over a year after their work-related injury. According to an IWH study of workers' compensation lost-time claimants, 70 per cent of workers experience pain 18 months after their work injury.

Published: September 2022

Historic labour shortages are affecting every Canadian job sector. Many workers aged 50 years or more want to work longer, often beyond the traditional retirement age. However, we understand little about the different workplace support needs they may have and whether workers choose to share their needs with others—especially given the negative stereotypes that often surround older workers. In this presentation, Dr. Monique Gignac shares insights from her study on older workers’ workplace support needs and disclosure decisions. She highlights how workplaces can help older workers stay on the job, regardless of whether they disclose their needs.

Published: September 2022

As part of the IDEA initiative, IWH is leading an evidence synthesis component to identify needs/challenges, knowledge gaps and existing evidence-informed tools and promising practices related to IDEA's objectives.

Status: Ongoing

Young adults with rheumatic disease who reported high work activity limitations were also more likely to report persistent high levels of pain, fatigue and active rheumatic disease symptoms. Those who experienced job insecurity were more likely to report persistent pain and active disease symptoms. That's according to an IWH follow-up study conducted over 27 months.

Published: August 2022

Communication is central to disability management—especially in large and complex organizations where multiple parties are involved in the return-to-work process and inconsistent practices can add to communication challenges. Workplace stakeholders in large and complex organizations use key strategies to effectively communicate about RTW. They include communicating messages of support, correctly timing RTW communication, carefully wording messages, framing messages and tailoring messages for individual workers.

Published: July 2022

Published: Occupational and Environmental Medicine, July 2022

Researchers at the Institute for Work & Health are looking for concrete ways to ensure youth and young adults with disabilities are included in the future of work. In the summer of 2021, a research team conducted an online survey with a wide range of people across Canada. This report summarizes six key areas in the future of work that survey participants indicated could both pose difficulties and offer opportunities to young people with disabilities. The report also presents the solutions that participants suggested to address the barriers and take advantage of the opportunities.

Published: May 2022

Published: Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, May 2022

Persons with disabilities face persisting inequities in the labour market arising from stigma, discrimination, and other structural barriers to employment. It is widely accepted that greater integration into the labour market could serve to promote the social and economic inclusion of persons with disabilities. But what happens when they are successful at integrating into the labour market? What kind of jobs do they get? In this presentation, Dr. Faraz Vahid Shahidi shares findings from a recent nationwide survey examining the employment quality of persons with disabilities in Canada. He documents the nature and extent of employment inequities experienced by persons with disabilities, as well as the consequences of these inequities for support and accommodation in the workplace.

Published: April 2022