From the Editor

I have lived in Massachusetts since 1976, but moved to Boston in 2004. Boston is a thoroughly manageable historic city where you can walk the Freedom Trail or to Fenway Park to see a Red Sox game or Billy Joel concert or to the Boston Common to ride a swan boat or visit the Museum of Fine Arts to view the Matisse at the Studio exhibit.

The environment, that is the external physical and social conditions that surround us in our daily life occupations are so important to our quality of life.I started this column describing some of my favorite physical environments in Boston, which includes both “the natural and built nonhuman surroundings and the objects in them” (AOTA, p. S28). However, just as important are the social environments. As defined in the American Occupational Therapy Association’s (AOTA) Occupational Therapy Practice Framework: Domain and Process (2014), social environments are the “presence of, relationships with, and expectations of persons, groups, or populations with whom clients have contact. The social environment includes availability and expectations of significant individuals, such as spouse, friends, and caregivers; relationships with individuals, groups, or populations; and relationships with systems (e.g., political, legal, economic, institutional) that influence norms, role expectations, and social routines” (p. S28).

This issue of WORK contains 15 articles which directly or indirectly address the physical and/or social environments and their impact on individuals, groups or populations. For example, Shankar and colleagues investigated the prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal injuries among a population of South Indian hand screen- printing workers. Whereas, Guo and colleagues explored subjective measures of work-related fatigue in a population of automobile factory employees; and Dockrell and colleagues surveyed over 700 parents to ascertain parental awareness of school bag carriage. As you read each article, please keep in mind the impact of the physical and social environments on the individuals, groups and populations investigated.

As we approach the last few months of 2017, I hope you will plan to attend an upcoming Learn at WORK webinar. They are:

Thursday, October 19, 2017 1-2pmEST

Presenter: Dr. Julie Dorsey

Title: Re-evaluation of a LEED Platinum Building: Occupant experiences of health and comfort

Register at: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8452443241262777347

Wednesday, November 15, 2017 1-2pmEST

Presenters: The Project Career team composed of: Dr. Phillip Rumrill, Dr. Deborah J. Hendricks, Eileen Elias, Dr. Karen Jacobs, Anne Leopold, Amanda Nardone, Elaine Sampson, Deborah Minton & Dr. Marcia Scherer

Title: Perceived benefit of iPad apps among college students with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

Register at: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3415532095909897988

Wednesday, December 13, 2017 1-2pmEST

Presenter: Dr. Bex (Rebecca) Twinley

Title: Woman-to-woman rape and sexual assault, and its impact upon the occupation of work: victim/survivors’ life roles of worker or student as disruptive and preservative

Register at: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3199989333958415107

If you missed any of the 2017 Learn at WORK webinars, you can find the recordings of these complimentary learning experiences at the Learn at WORK YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOJalCXvSg9fPHaFFs48PuQ

I have begun to schedule our 2018 Learn at WORK webinars. Here is a sneak preview of the topics:

You can view the complete schedule on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WORKJournal2016/?fref=ts

Follow us on Twitter @WORK Journal and Facebook: (https://www.facebook.com/WORKJournal2016/?fref=ts

As always, I welcome hearing from you.

Cheers