Work : a journal of prevention, assessment, and rehabilitation
-
The aim of this study was to perform a 5-year follow-up of a 7-week multidisciplinary rehabilitation program focusing on pain, physical disability, anxiety and depression as well as stress and sick leave and to compare the results from the baseline, a 2-year follow-up and this 5-year follow-up. ⋯ The rehabilitation program seemed to have had an effect on the participant's ability to manage with symptoms long after the end of the rehabilitation program. Most participants had returned to work, and reported less pain. The improvements made in physical disability and mental health prior to the 2-year follow-up were maintained at the 5-year follow-up occasion.
-
The objective of this study was to provide knowledge about participation and change in participation among men and women experiencing chronic musculoskeletal pain and undergoing multidisciplinary vocational rehabilitation. ⋯ The different trajectories of participation seemed to be gender specific and were connected to broader societal and environmental factors. These combined aspects seemed to affect values, motivation, and understanding of important goals while experiencing chronic pain. Examining goal-oriented participation may add to the understanding of gender differences in the rehabilitation process and thereby have implications for rehabilitation interventions.
-
Occupational low back pain (LBP) is considered to be the most expensive form of work disability, with the socioeconomic costs of persistent LBP exceeding the costs of acute and subacute LBP by far. This makes the early identification of patients at risk of developing persistent LBP essential, especially in working populations. The aim of the study was to evaluate both risk factors (for the development of persistent LBP) and protective factors (preventing the development of persistent LBP) in the same cohort. ⋯ Social support at work should be considered as a resource preventing the development of persistent LBP whereas somatization should be considered as a risk factor for the development of persistent LBP. Further studies are needed to determine if addressing these factors in workplace interventions for patients suffering from acute, subacute or recurrent LBP prevents subsequent development of persistent LBP.
-
To examine perceived stress across employees with different occupational status, to investigate the impact of stress on work ability and to derive conclusions regarding health promotion activities. ⋯ While perceived occupational stress had an apparent impact on WAI, and WAI has been demonstrated to be predictive of early retirement, more intensive and employee group-specific stress management interventions are being implemented beyond traditional strategies of routine occupational medical surveillance.
-
'Safety culture' is identified in the literature as a critical element of healthy and safe workplaces. How can rail organizations ensure that consistently effective work health and safety cultures are maintained across the diversity of their operations? This paper reports on research that is currently underway in the Australian rail industry aimed at producing a Model of Best Practice in Safety Culture for the industry. Located in rail organizations dedicated to the mining industry as well as urban rail and national freight operations, the research examines the constructs of organizational culture that impact on the development and maintenance of healthy and safe workplaces. ⋯ The research uses as its analytical framework the 10 Platinum Rules, from the findings of earlier research in the New South Wales (Australia) mining industry, Digging Deeper. Data collection is underway at the time of writing and preliminary findings are presented at this stage. The research method may be adapted for use as a form of organizational review of safety and health in organizational culture.