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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: This paper presents a case example which illustrates application of the model of human occupation along with the biomechanical model in the treatment of a patient with hand injury, which resulted in inability to work. The case illustrates application of the model of human occupation's concepts in assessing and treating the client. By combining the two models, a more holistic and effective approach to treatment was developed. Treatment resulted in a positive employment outcome.
Abstract: Assessing factors beyond the functional capacity of the injured worker is challenging, yet essential for deriving a more complete understanding of the worker. Insight into a worker's perceptions of abilities and limitations, commitment to the worker role, perception of the impact of the injury on non-work roles, ability to adjust habits and routines, and perception of the work environment allows the therapist to identify and address barriers to return-to-work. The Worker Role Interview (WRI), based on…the Model of Human Occupation, is designed to assist the therapist in obtaining this information. The therapist's ratings on a four-point scale provide a picture of the factors which support and interfere with successful return-to-work. This paper describes the WRI and discusses its clinical application. A case example illustrates how the information gained from the WRI can be used for treatment planning.
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Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to investigate through a review of research literature whether empirical support exists to support the theoretical arguments of the Model of Human Occupation. A literature review of 44 predictive studies of factors influencing return-to-work published over the last 25 years was conducted. The factors most commonly found to be associated with return to work or with long-term disability were then organized according to the subsystems of the Model of Human…Occupation.
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Keywords: model of human occupation, return-to-work, work disability
Abstract: This paper discusses application of the model of human occupation to the worker with an injury or disability. Concepts from the model of human occupation (MOHO) are used to frame potential work-related strengths and weaknesses. Using MOHO as a framework to understand the worker with an injury or disability provides a more complete and holistic understanding of the many factors which can affect a worker. In particular, the model illuminates how factors of capacity, motivation, lifestyle,…and environment inter-relate in determining a worker's success or failure. Implications for using the model to achieve a more effective work-related practice are discussed.
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Abstract: The Model of Human Occupation offers a framework for analyzing occupational roles including that of worker; however, it does not describe the dynamics of role change after a traumatic injury. This paper reports a qualitative study of sixteen individuals who experienced a traumatic spinal cord injury in the midst of their occupational career development. The study examined their role change processes involved in redeveloping the worker role. Data were collected across 24 months of the participant's…lives and triangulated via participant observations, guided interviews, mapping, and archival document review. Results showed that individuals formed multiple strands within their role repertoires at any point in time. After a traumatic injury, the worker role became an optional, elective role strand, one that often unraveled first as they encountered breakdowns in more basic survival roles, such as home manager, assistive technology user and attendant care employer. The metaphor of a Life Rope emerged as a useful conceptual framework for explaining life role development, including that of worker.
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Abstract: This paper illustrates application of the model of human occupation in the long term rehabilitation of a German worker who suffered a stroke. The case shows the importance of assessing and addressing not only performance, but also volition and habituation. As such it illustrates a holistic approach to providing work related rehabilitation.
Abstract: This study examined the psychometric properties of the Work Environment Impact Scale in the United States and Sweden. Thirteen American and four Swedish occupational therapists used the scale (in English and Swedish respectively) to rate 21 (11 American and 10 Swedish) subjects. Results of a Rasch analysis of the data, indicate that the items work well together to measure the construct of work environment impact. The scale is also suitably matched to the clients in this…study and effectively discriminated different levels of work environment impact. The findings also suggest that both language versions of the scale are equivalent and that the scale is culture-free.
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Abstract: The revised theory of the model of human occupation expands the concept of volition to include volitional narrative. This paper focuses on the application of this theory of volition to a client's experience in a work program. This ethnographic case study describes the volitional narrative and life world of one client who attended the occupational therapy work based program. For fifteen months the client was the subject of narrative interviews, participant observation, videotapes and telephone contacts.…The findings will illustrate how knowledge of a client's volitional narrative and life world can shed critical light on understanding treatment conflicts. Finally, the discussion will underscore how important it is for work based programs to be designed to encourage therapists to adapt their treatment approaches to maximize the opportunities to seek out the client's volitional narratives and to create meaningful experiences that are consistent with the client's life world.
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Abstract: Throughout history deafness and hearing loss have been widely misunderstood. Issues concerning the education of deaf children, appropriate means of communication and remediation of deafness have consistently been a source of heated debate between the professionals working with the deaf and the deaf people themselves. The purpose of this paper is an attempt to illustrate these issues and to impart to the reader the realization that a diagnosis of ``deaf'' means so much more than the…inability to hear and understand speech and other sounds. It is a way of life that cannot be ignored (Jacobs, A Deaf Adult Speaks Out, Harvard University Press, Washington, DC, 1994).
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