Project Purpose   Project Activities and Background   Health and Work Productivity Web Portal   E-Bulletin

Project Purpose

he purpose of this program is to facilitate the use of evidence-informed best practices across a broad base of stakeholders to improve workplace health, enhance workplace productivity, reduce absenteeism, increase work satisfaction, prevent unnecessary disability and improve disability management.

Project Activities and Background

All stakeholders, including the worker, employer as well as public and private insurers, share the benefits of preventing injury and effectively managing the treatment of workers with injuries. Effective prevention and treatment minimizes injury risk, loss of income and chances of re-injury for the worker. Improvements in prevention and management increase worker satisfaction minimize disruptions in work productivity and reduce worker compensation insurance premiums. Coordinating and improving the effectiveness of these many stakeholders can have a direct or indirect influence on the prevention of occupational injury, the timing of return to work (RTW) and mitigate unnecessary work disability. Changes in regulations, policies, and collaboration with all stakeholders can enhance meaningful workplace accommodation, retraining, vocational rehabilitation and evidence-informed treatment options. Rigorous scientific studies over the last two decades suggest that many injuries, and a large part of their associated disability, are preventable, but effective prevention requires collective action by multiple stakeholders at different levels within and outside of a work environment.

A primary obstacle to improving disability prevention management are related to significant gaps between current practice and utilization of knowledge derived from high quality research among all parties (employers, workers, labour, medical, allied healthcare professionals, policy makers) engaged in the workplace. In addition, these knowledge gaps also impact other treatment environments including rehabilitation support groups, non-profit societies, and the social milieu of the injured worker (including impact on family life, significant others, casual relationships).

A major goal of this project is to reduce the socio-economic burden of illness and disability by closing the gap between what is known by high quality research and what is taught and practiced by various stakeholders (consumers, consumer organizations, business leaders, labour representatives, occupational health and safety personnel, decision/policy-makers, rehabilitation professionals, human resource consultants, disability consultants, and academic and clinical researchers).

This project is using a systematic community-based participatory approach to:

• understand the information needs of business, employees and other stakeholders;
• keep abreast of current research in disability prevention and management;
• ensure that the research is evidence-informed and high-quality; and
• facilitate knowledge mobilization of best practices in the workplace through collective action including action-oriented programs and activities, stakeholder meetings, and educational activities including a national Health and Work Productivity Web Portal

Health & Work Productivity Web Portal

The Health & Work Productivity Web Portal is a strategic theory-driven, participatory approach to knowledge mobilization. With the goal of creating and providing credible knowledge, implementation tools and implementation resources to support, implement, and sustain safe, healthy, accommodating, and productive workplaces.  An integral part of the vision is to build synergies among Faculties of Business, Faculties of Health Sciences and Social Sciences and facilitate linkages with community partners enhancing all aspects of the research development and dissemination cycle.

Creating and disseminating credible, reliable knowledge, tools and resources requires the establishment of new partnerships engaging researchers and stakeholder decision-makers (government, organizations, business, labour, health professional/licensing bodies), with end users (academic, business/labour leaders, managers, front-line workers, human resource personnel, disability/wellness coordinators, researchers, family physicians and other health care professionals, educators) working together to assess existing resources relevant to their information needs across different domains of judgment (scientific merit, relevance, perceived value, usability) and to translate current research into pragmatic guidance to facilitate the implementation of best practices in disability prevention and management.

The production side of the Web Portal facilitates collaboration between knowledge users and research scientists providing opportunities for dialogue, research partnerships, knowledge translation and exchange. The publishing side of the Web Portal provides practical evidence-informed knowledge, tools and resources including toolkits, e-learning opportunities, and multimedia resources relevant for stakeholders in training and practice. Public access resources will support workers/public in making better informed decisions about health promotion, safety, and living well with chronic diseases.

Academic partners include: Simon Fraser University’s Faculty of Health Sciences; the University of Victoria’s Faculty of Business; the University of British Columbia’s School of Nursing & Department of Family Practice; McMaster University’s School of Rehabilitation Science, Faculty of Health Science; and the University of Windsor’s Odette School of Business. Knowledge broker partners are the Canadian Cochrane Network and Centre, Health-Evidence.ca, and the National Library of Medicine. Professional/research partners include Arthritis Research Centre of Canada, BC Society of Occupational Therapists, Canadian Association for Research in Work and Health, Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists, Canadian Association of Rehabilitation Professionals, Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, Canadian Chiropractic Association, Canadian Council of Human Resources Associations, Canadian Kinesiology Alliance, Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College, Canadian Mental Health Association - British Columbia Division, Canadian Physiotherapy Association, Canadian Society of Medical Evaluators, Centre for the Study of Living Standards, Global Business And Economic Roundtable on Addiction and Mental Health, Human Resources Management Association, Human Resources Professionals of Ontario, Massage Therapists Association of BC, National Spine Network, Physiotherapy Association of British Columbia, The Bone and Joint Decade, and The Canadian Pain Society.

Project funders to-date include: Labour-Management Partnerships Program, Human Resources and Development Canada; Canadian Institutes of Health Research; Healthcare Benefit Trust; Direct Access Program, Government of British Columbia; Ceridian; Purolator Courier Ltd; The Woodbridge Group; Organizational Solutions; Industrial Alliance Pacific; Faculty of Health Sciences & School of Business, Simon Fraser University; Department of Family Practice - University of British Columbia; University of Northern British Columbia; Great West Life; Pacific Blue Cross; United Steelworkers; WorkSafe BC; Canadian Association of Disability Managers; BC Life; Yukon Worker’s Compensation Health and Safety Board; Marsh; Mercer. In-kind donations include Microsoft Canada, Radiant Communications Inc, volunteer stakeholder committees.

E-Bulletin

As part of this initiative to proactively link stakeholders to recent research and resources the E-Communications Committee plans to launch a monthly electronic news bulletin in the Spring of 2009.

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