From the Editor

On January 20, 2021, the United States of America (USA) inaugurated a new president and vice president. I am personally very excited about their leadership and the future for our country and the world.

Prior to the inauguration, members of the Boston University community were invited to imagine ourselves as President-elect Biden’s speechwriter, and were asked to write the opening paragraph of his inaugural address. I thought I would share what I wrote:

“Fellow Americans, and citizens around the world, I’d like to start this address by acknowledging “the Native Peoples on whose ancestral homelands we gather, as well as the diverse and vibrant Native communities who make their home here today” [from the National Museum of the American Indian Land Acknowledgement]. I’d also like to point out the obvious— that we find ourselves today in entirely unusual times, times that are filled with many truly formidable challenges. Well, I don’t know about you, but I know we are up to these challenges. Let’s imagine it’s 2025, four years from now. Who will we be as individuals and as families, as members of communities and as citizens of our towns, cities, states, and country? What will we have accomplished in those four years and how did we do it? For starters, we must base our decisions on solid, proven evidence. We’ll need this foundation if we are to successfully become a unified nation of problem solvers— of individuals who talk to, but more importantly, listen to, each other. Together, we can and will begin to address and solve the scientific, economic, and social problems we face to revitalize our infrastructure, to develop new technologies in the healthcare, clean energy, manufacturing, service sectors of our economy and to start the process of healing our spiritual and economic wounds from a legacy of intolerance and inequity. We are up to these tasks. We can do this! It definitely won’t be easy and it will surely involve sacrifice and hard work, both emotional work and roll-up-your shirtsleeves physical work. But know this ...   if we put aside our differences and work together in common cause in service to these noble ends, we will be repaid bountifully by the joy of seeing our families and our society heal and flourish, and by knowing that, looking back on these challenging times, our children and their children’s children will offer their thanks to our job well done.” (Jacobs, K. January 20, 2020, BUToday)

Of course, President Biden’s inaugural address far surpassed anything I wrote. Even though it was interesting to imagine being in a new work role as a speechwriter, I am very content to stay in my role as Editor-in-Chief of WORK! You can find President Biden’s inaugural address here: https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/20/politics/joe-biden-speech-transcript/index.html

This issue of WORK contains 26 articles on topics such as productivity in older versus younger workers, smartphone addiction, sleep, presenteeism, occupational exposure and post-traumatic stress disorder among many other interesting topics, as well as 14 articles in a special section on workplace violence prevention using security robots.

Prior to the pandemic, it was our custom to select one article to be free-to-read. In this issue, it is Productivity in older versus younger workers: a systematic literature review authored by Viviani, Bravo, Lavallière, Arezes, Martínez, Dianat, Bragança and Castellucci. I thank IOS Press for their generosity in making COVID-19 related articles also free-to-read in all of our issues of WORK.

I hope you are enjoying the Learn at WORK webinars. Here are some of the upcoming 2021 webinars:

Thursday, Feb 18, 202 at 1-2pm EST

Taking care of the researcher – a nature and art-related activity retreat sharing natural space put humanity in perspective

Presenter: Professor Eva Bojner Horwitz

Registration: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6844009491323621646

Wednesday, March 29, 2021 at 2-3pm EST

The importance of health management and maintenance occupations while homeless

Presenters: Quinn Tyminski and Ariana Gonzalez

Registration: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/9081127525691332879

Wednesday, April 14, 2021 at 1-2pm EST

Coping on the inside: Design for therapeutic incarceration interventions

Presenters: Dr. Amy Wagenfeld and Dr. Daniel Winterbottom

Registration: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5946523230165220366

Wednesday, May 5, 2021 at 1-2pm EST

The role of office features and psychosocial working conditions

Presenters: Dr. Sarah Lütke Lanferand Dr. Anja Göritz

Registration: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2971930860503787533

Wednesday, June 2, 2021 at 1-2pm EST

Telehealth in school-based practice: Perceived viability to bridge global occupational therapy practitioner shortages prior to COVID-19 global health emergency

Presenters: Cynthia Abbott-Gaffney and Karen Jacobs

Registration: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2425795738833723661

Wednesday, July 14 at 1-2pm EST

An assessment of ergonomic issues in the home offices of university employees sent home due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Presenter: Kermit Davis

Registration: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4042561619417630988

Wednesday, September 2 at 1-2pm EST

Was a global pandemic needed to adopt the use of telehealth in occupational therapy?

Presenters: Viktoria Hoel, Claudia von Zweck, Viktoria Hoel and Ritchard Ledgerd

Registration: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8474382929400856591

Stay up-to-date on our Learn at WORK webinars, blogs and news by going to our website at workjournal.org

As always, I look forward to hearing from you. Be safe and healthy.

Cheers,