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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: The aim of this study was to describe how Swedish social insurance officers experienced their working conditions, when dealing with applications for disability pensions (DPs). A qualitative research design was selected to describe their experiences. Open-ended interviews with ten social insurance officers were analyzed with inductive content analysis. This analysis showed that the working conditions were influenced by rules and regulations and the social insurance officers' competence. The social insurance officers' powerful…positions and how their discretion was implemented made them feel responsible for performing their work well. They felt that the large number of clients hampered them from being able to offer the clients the activities they were entitled to, and from paying each client sufficient attention. There was a need for time to reflect and to improve management, in order to better develop the way in which DPs were handled. There was a difference in culture between the older social insurance officers, who had experience-based training, and the younger social insurance officers, who had academic qualifications. The results from this study could be used to better develop the organisation of work in the social insurance agency, and in further educational activities.
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Keywords: Social insurance officer, working conditions, street-level bureaucracy
Abstract: Agriculture is one of the nation's more hazardous occupations, and injury prevention among agricultural workers is a focus of safety and education programs nationwide. This research project investigated the effectiveness of a culturally appropriate body mechanics education program for fruit warehouse workers in Washington State. The purpose of the body mechanics education program was to promote correct ergonomic behavior among migrant and seasonal fruit warehouse workers. Participants received instruction in proper body…mechanics by viewing a videotaped Spanish-language theatre program (with English subtitles) followed by a demonstration and practice of correct lifting techniques and selected stretches for injury prevention. A written pre- and post-test to assess body mechanics knowledge and an evaluation of lifting methods were administered at the time of the training and again two weeks later. The results indicated culturally appropriate body mechanics education is an effective intervention for increasing knowledge and promoting correct lifting techniques. However, further research is indicated to examine the significance of supervised and individualized, job-specific practice on affecting more lasting changes in work-related body mechanics and lifting behaviors.
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Keywords: Body mechanics education, injury prevention, agricultural workers
Abstract: The main purpose of this study was to investigate whether the outcome obtained at the end of a work rehabilitation programme for people with various disabilities were stable in a one-year perspective. An additional aim was to explore which factors influenced the outcome upon completion of work rehabilitation and at the one-year follow-up. The study used information from a database and comprised 291 clients who had completed rehabilitation at least one year ago. Variables such as…sociodemographic data, parameters describing the work rehabilitation period and work capacity upon completion of the programme and at the one-year follow-up were recorded. At the one-year follow-up, the clients also performed self-ratings that comprised three questions: perception of the ability to influence their own situation, the social support available from friends and family, and the need for support from society. The younger clients were more likely to be working after the rehabilitation, but this was not the case at the follow-up. Gender, ethnic origin was not related to outcome directly after rehabilitation, but at the follow-up fewer women than expected were working and more clients than expected of a Scandinavian origin were working. Women rated their need of social support higher than men, and clients from outside Scandinavia perceived a lower ability to influence their own situation. Gender, duration of sick leave, time spent in rehabilitation, and ethnic origin were variables that were of no importance for the outcome of rehabilitation but were of significance for the outcome at the one-year follow-up. These results demonstrate the necessity of not only studying the outcome directly after rehabilitation, but also the stability of results at in a follow-up perspective, since the individual's situation changes over time.
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Abstract: This article describes the objectives and methods involved in economic analyses of rehabilitation services. Demonstrated approaches to cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit studies are presented, illustrated with examples from the contemporary literature. The strengths and limitations of economic analyses are considered within the context of current trends in rehabilitation policy and practice.
Abstract: Ergonomics in Schools has focused on micro-ergonomics issues such as mismatch between student body sizes and their desks and chairs, the weight of schoolbags and the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders amongst school students. Very little of this has been turned into practice. Although advances in this context are being made by the International Ergonomics (IEA) Technical Committee (TC) on Ergonomics for Children in Educational Environments (ECEE), the UK Ergonomics Society Special Interest Group on Ergonomics for…Schools and the New Zealand Ergonomics Society Ergonomics/Human factors in Education (EHFIE) Special Interest Group, there has been less focus on macro-ergonomics issues such as learning environments, ergonomics pedagogy and curriculum content/structure. This commentary reviews micro-ergonomics aspects of `Ergonomics in schools' and argues in favour of a new direction: macro-ergonomics for schools, or educational ergonomics in which ergonomists seek to integrate ergonomics into national educational curricula in concert with Ministries of Education and also via inclusion of ergonomics modules in teacher training.
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Keywords: Education, human factors, learning, curricula
