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ISSN 1051-9815 (P)
ISSN 1875-9270 (E)
Impact Factor 2024: 1.7
WORK: A Journal of Prevention, Assessment & Rehabilitation is an interdisciplinary, international journal which publishes high quality peer-reviewed manuscripts covering the entire scope of the occupation of work. The journal's subtitle has been deliberately laid out: The first goal is the prevention of illness, injury, and disability. When this goal is not achievable, the attention focuses on assessment to design client-centered intervention, rehabilitation, treatment, or controls that use scientific evidence to support best practice.
WORK occasionally publishes thematic issues, but in general, issues cover a wide range of topics such as ergonomic considerations with children, youth and students, the challenges facing an aging workforce, workplace violence, injury management, performing artists, ergonomic product evaluations, and the awareness of the political, cultural, and environmental determinants of health related to work.
Dr. Karen Jacobs, the founding editor, and her editorial board especially encourage the publication of research studies, clinical practice, case study reports, as well as personal narratives and critical reflections of lived work experiences (autoethnographic/autobiographic scholarship),
Sounding Board commentaries and
Speaking of Research articles which provide the foundation for better understanding research to facilitate knowledge dissemination.
Narrative Reflections on Occupational Transitions, a new column, is for persons who have successfully transitioned into, between, or out of occupations to tell their stories in a narrative form. With an internationally renowned editorial board,
WORK maintains high standards in the evaluation and publication of manuscripts. All manuscripts are reviewed expeditiously and published in a timely manner.
WORK prides itself on being an author-friendly journal.
WORK celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2015.
*WORK is affiliated with the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists (CAOT)* *WORK is endorsed by the International Ergonomics Association (IEA)* *WORK gives out the yearly Cheryl Bennett Best Paper Award*
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Many entry-level and experienced healthcare professionals have not received training in workplace violence prevention strategies. OBJECTIVE: This paper describes the development, content, and initial qualitative evaluation of an on-line course designed to give healthcare workers an opportunity to acquire free workplace violence prevention training while earning free continuing education units. METHODS: A group of healthcare violence prevention researchers worked via email and face-to-face meetings to decide appropriate content for the course. Educational strategies used in the course include: text; video re-enactments of real-life workplace violence incidents; and videos of nurses discussing incidents of…violence. Initial evaluation involved a focus group of nurses to discuss the course content and navigation. RESULTS: The on-line course has thirteen units that take approximately 15 minutes each to complete. The focus group participants liked the ``resume-where-you-left-off'' technology that enables the user to complete any portion of the course, leave to do something, and return to the course where they left off. Participants viewed the ``Nurses' Voices'' videos as relevant illustrations of violence that nurses face in their workplaces. CONCLUSIONS: The focus group participants considered the course to be an effective learning tool for people new to the profession and for those with seniority.
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Keywords: Workplace violence, healthcare, on-line, training
Abstract: BACKGROUND: The impact of horizontal violence is multifaceted. From the impact upon the individual, the unit, and the institution, horizontal violence affects professional nursing activities in a variety of aspects of health care. OBJECTIVE: To examine registered nurses' experiences with horizontal violence and explore the relationship between horizontal violence and intent to leave. PARTICIPANTS: A random sample of 300 registered nurses from a Midwestern hospital received the Briles' Sabotage Savvy Questionnaire (BSSQ), the Michigan Organizational Assessment Questionnaire (MOAQ) Intent to Turnover measure, and a Demographic questionnaire. METHODS: Descriptive correlational study was implemented.…Questionnaires were distributed to the selected registered nurses. Descriptive and correlational statistics were calculated. RESULTS: Horizontal violence had been experienced by nurses of all ages and experience. Based upon measurement tools, examples of horizontal violence were: Being held responsible for coworkers' duties; Reprimanded or confronted in front of others; Failure to be acknowledged or confronted in front of others; and Untrue information about you being passed or exchanged. Correlations indicated a significant, positive relationship between perceptions of horizontal violence and intent to leave. Results also indicated the longer nurses were employed the more likely to perceive themselves as victims of horizontal violence. Additionally, results associated with the MOAQ, age and years employed indicated that older nurses and those with increasing years of employment were less likely to leave. Younger nurses indicated more willingness to leave a position due to perceived horizontal violence than older nurses. CONCLUSIONS: Activities to address the impact of perceived horizontal violence are needed. Workplace strategies may include mentoring, ongoing assessment of organizational climate, and zero tolerance for horizontal violence.
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Abstract: BACKGROUND: Quality improvement initiative focused on staff injury reduction on a specialized inpatient psychiatric unit which offers acute stabilization for children and adolescents with complex high-risk behaviors. OBJECTIVE: To utilize quality improvement principles and interventions to reduce staff injuries on a specialized inpatient child/adolescent psychiatric unit. PARTICIPANTS: Direct care clinical staff within an inpatient psychiatric unit for patients with co-occurring developmental disabilities and psychiatric illness were the focus of the initiative. Direct care clinical staff and clinical administrators were the active participants in the quality improvement initiative, focusing upon the interactions between staff and…patients. METHODS: OSHA-recordable injuries were documented to guide initiatives and measure outcomes on weekly run charts with raw data measures of all staff injuries and the number of days elapsed between injuries. Rapid Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA) cycles were utilized to test interventions and guide decision making. RESULTS: Three months of a structured and systematic intervention trial produced the first adopted interventions in August 2011. The following six months reflected a 65% reduction of staff injuries (from 2.2 injuries per week to 0.77 injuries per week). Between January and August 2011, there were eight OSHA-recordable injuries with an average of 26.5 days between injuries. The average number of days between OSHA-recordable injuries has increased from 26.5 days at baseline to 124 days. CONCLUSIONS: An initiative utilizing quality improvement principles reduced staff injuries on an inpatient specialized psychiatric unit. Reliability principles, system adaption, and engagement of the frontline nursing clinicians have proven to be foundational and vital to guide the initiative.
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Abstract: BACKGROUND: Various parameters related to pushing/pulling tasks have been examined yet the effects of changing the load position in one-wheeled wheelbarrow task has not been examined. OBJECTIVE: To explore the effects of load position and force direction on muscle activity during wheelbarrow tasks. PARTICIPANTS: Nine participants were recruited to take part in the experiment. METHODS: Each participant performed 18 trials consisting of 2 force directions (push and pull) and 9 load positions. The dependent variables were EMG of erector spinae and gripping force. ANOVA was used to identify significant differences between force…direction and load position in EMG and gripping force data. RESULTS: Results showed that peak EMG was lowest for the left and right erector spinae when the load was positioned farther from the participant. Peak EMG of the bilateral erector spinae increased when the weight was near the participant and on the ipsilateral hand. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the EMG results, we suggest that loads be arranged in the anterior part of the bin in order to reduce muscle activity on the spine during the wheelbarrow task. This finding also provides some directions in the improvement and ergonomic redesign of the one-wheeled wheelbarrow.
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Keywords: Push and pull, Electromyography(EMG), MMH, low back
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Government policy shapes and is shaped by society's views of important social issues such as employment among people with disabilities. OBJECTIVE: This article explores how unemployment among people with mental illness has been understood and characterized within social policy. METHODS: Drawing on a qualitative case study that explored the construction and implementation of policy reform within the employment support branch of the Ontario Disability Support Program, this paper examines assumptions about unemployment among people with mental illness that underlie social policy and their impact on employment services and supports. RESULTS: The…most prominent messages that emerged from the data focused on unemployment among people with mental illness as a function of personal responsibility, limitations and a lack of motivation. Although there was awareness of the role of social and systemic factors, these issues were given less weight, especially when describing employment support practices. There is a lack of sufficient attention to complex and deeply-rooted social and systemic inequalities within social policy and employment services. CONCLUSIONS: There is a need to expand conceptualizations of unemployment among people with mental illness within social policy, and develop interventions that address complex social factors and systemic constraints that can limit employment opportunities.
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Keywords: Causes of unemployment, employment supports, funding structures, policy reform
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Since 2008, a deep financial crisis, which started in the United States, has widely spread around the world. Scientists expressed their worry about this crisis by pointing out that potential negative health effects can be created by collective fear and panic.…OBJECTIVES: The main purpose of this cross-sectional study on the fear of the crisis has been to examine its impact on mental health through the use of structural equation modeling. In the trial a new model of economic stress we were also interested in identifying if fear of the crisis has an indirect relationship with employees' health (e.g. related to a poor social support or to work-related stress). Furthermore, this study aimed to examine whether a full or a partial mediation model best fits the data. METHODS: Data collection took place between 2010 and 2011. During this period several private organizations that comprised of 1236 employees participated in the study. RESULTS: It was found that social support and job stress fully mediated the relationship between fear of the crisis and health, with all fit indices meeting their respective criteria, and with all path coefficients being significant. CONCLUSIONS: Implications for discussion of the crisis among employees were presented. In conclusion, fear of the crisis appeared to be an important innovative construct for organizational wellbeing.
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Abstract: BACKGROUND: Conducting research on the work outcomes of first episode psychosis (FEP) samples may extend our understanding of the factors associated with the work outcome of people with schizophrenia and other psychotic illnesses. OBJECTIVE: To conduct a detailed study of the work outcome of an FEP sample. METHODS: Members of a FEP cohort, who had completed a 12-year clinical outcome assessment, were invited to participate in an adjunctive work outcome study. Engagement in paid and non-paid work was first established and the relationship with potentially influential baseline characteristics investigated. Subsequently the influence of work…outcome to participants' level of quality of life, mental health, recovery, and social inclusion were examined. RESULTS: Among the 38 participants the mean percentage of time spent in work was 62% of which 50% was in paid work and 12% was in non-paid work. Being employed at inception was the only independent predictor of the duration of the follow-up period spent in work. Relationships between work outcome and all measures of wellbeing were found. CONCLUSION: The paid and non-paid work attained by people affected by a psychotic illness played an important role in the extent of their wellbeing, recovery, and social inclusion.
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Keywords: Employment, schizophrenia, social inclusion, recovery, quality of life
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Work attention in persons with chronic schizophrenia is an important issue in vocational rehabilitation. Some of the research literature indicates that background music may influence visual attention performance. OBJECTIVES: Based on the theory of occupational therapy, environmental sounds, colors and decorations may affect individual performance, this study thus examined the influence of music on work attention in persons with schizophrenia. PARTICIPANTS: Participants were recruited from a halfway house in Taipei. Forty-nine (49) patients with chronic schizophrenia volunteered. They had been accepted into vocational rehabilitation and a work-seeking program. The sample included 20 females…and 29 males. The participant ages ranged between 29 and 63 years old, and their average age was 47 years old. METHODS: Using a randomized controlled trial (RCT) study, the participants were assigned to one of three conditions: quiet environment as the control group (n= 16), classical light music as background music (n= 16), and popular music as background music (n= 17). RESULTS: For Group 1 (control group/quiet environment), there was no significant variance (sig = 0.172). For Group 2 (Classical light music), the intervention revealed significant variance (sig = 0.071* ). For Group 3 (popular music), the intervention had significant variance (sig = 0.048** ). CONCLUSIONS: The introduction of background music tended to increase attention test scores of persons with schizophrenia. Moreover, the increase in test attention scores was statistically significant when popular music was played in the background. This result suggested that background music may improve attention performance of persons with chronic schizophrenia. Future research is required with a larger sample size to support the study results.
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