Quick Links
Customer Centres
Compensation, disability management and return-to-work
A Clinical Trial of a Multi-element Exercise Program for Plantar Fasciopathy in Workers Required to Stand for Prolonged Periods of Time
This study will examine the effectiveness of a multi-element exercise program in reducing the pain and disability of chronic plantar fasciopathy in a population of workers standing for prolonged periods during their work day. It is anticipated that results of the study will lead to a significant step in reducing the time lost to injury and improving the quality of life for workers required to spend long periods of time on their feet.
| Principal Applicant: | Jack Taunton (UBC) |
| Co-Applicants: | Michael Ryan, Anthony Wong (UBC), Scott Fraser (Allan McGavin Sports Physiotherapy) |
| Funding Awarded: | $48,793.88 (Innovation) |
| Competition Year: | 2010 |
Development and Piloting of an Electronic Format for Carrying out Prosthetic Evaluation using Functional Outcome Measures
With the array of prosthetic components now available, deciding what is best is challenging, particularly when the cost of technology is a factor. This project will address the key issue of balancing technology choices with prudent financial management. The objective is to develop a standardized functional prosthetic outcomes protocol in an electronic format, thereby providing the ability to evaluate information received on new prosthetic technology in a timely and cost effective manner. The protocol is also intended to determine if the new technology provides measurable improved function and quality of life in proportion to its cost.
| Principal Investigator: | Silvia Raschke (BCIT) |
| Co-investigators: | Jason Goodnough (BCIT), Kukuh Noertjojo, Craig Martin (WorkSafeBC) |
| Funding Awarded: | $123,512 |
| Competition Year: | 2008 |
Documenting the Economic and Quality of Life Consequences of Work Injuries for Healthcare Workers in BC
This project aims to quantify the economic and quality of life consequences experienced by injured B.C. healthcare workers and their families. This information can then be used to conduct comprehensive economic evaluations of occupational health and safety initiatives in healthcare that will better integrate workers’ perspectives and properly account for the costs and benefits accrued to workers and their families.
| Principal Investigator: | Jaime Guzman (OHSAH) |
| Co-investigators: | Hasanat Alamgir, Saleema Dhalla (OHSAH), Emile Tompa (IWH), Mieke Koehoorn (UBC) |
| Funding Awarded: | $190,832* (2 years) |
| Competition Year: | 2008 |
*In partnership with the WCB of Nova Scotia
Early Opioid Prescriptions for Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders of the Back: Understanding Utilization Patterns, Determinants, and Impact on Work Disability
This research aims to address gaps in research relating to opioid use and its association with increased healthcare costs and prolonged work disability. The main objective is to examine whether opioid analgesics prescribed within the first 12 weeks of filing a new work-related back disorder workers’ compensation claim are associated with future work disability.
| Principal Investigator: | Sheilah Hogg-Johnson (IWH) |
| Co-investigators: | Nancy Carnide, Andrea Furlan (IWH); Pierre Côté (Toronto Western Research Institute); Mieke Koehoorn (UBC) |
| Funding Awarded: | $64,855 (2 years) |
| Competition Year: | 2011 |
Expectations of Return to Work for Injured Workers with Sub-acute Back Pain
Completed
The aim of this research study is to conduct an exploratory investigation of injured workers’ expectations in relation to return to work in order to identify factors that influence the formation of these expectations. It is anticipated that the findings of this exploration into the construction of expectations will assist in the development of more effective interventions for injured workers who are off work due to non-specific subacute low back pain.
| Principal Investigator: | Richard Young (UBC) |
| Co-investigators: | Izabela Schultz, Alison Stewart (UBC), Vaughan Marshall (GF Strong Rehab Centre) |
| Funding Awarded: | $30,000* |
| Competition Year: | 2008 |
*In partnership with the WCB of Manitoba and the Workplace Health, Safety & Compensation Commission of Newfoundland and Labrador (WHSCC)
Investigating the Longer-Term Health Consequences of Work-Related Injuries among Youth
Completed
This study will use administrative data to examine the experience of young workers in B.C. and evaluate the longer-term health consequences of being injured on the job. It will specifically investigate whether young WCB injured workers use the public health care system more frequently than young non-WCB injured workers.
| Principal Investigator: | Mieke Koehoorn (UBC) |
| Co-investigator: | Curtis Breslin (IWH) |
| Funding Awarded: | $76,068 (2 years) |
| Competition Year: | 2002 |
Long-Term Impact of Western Red Cedar Asthma on Work, Health and Quality of Life
Completed
This study is a follow-up of patients diagnosed in B.C. with Western Red Cedar (WRC) Asthma since 1972. It will examine the long-term impacts of exposure to WRC and provide insights into the effectiveness of protective measures, such as respirators.
| Principal Investigator: | Helen Ward (UBC) |
| Co-investigators: | Moira Chan-Yeung, Jennifer Wilson, Kay Teschke (UBC) |
| Funding Awarded: | $181,940 (2 years) |
| Competition Year: | 2002 |
Measuring Health Outcomes: An Empirical Comparison of Adaptive and Standard Questionnaires
Completed
This project will develop and evaluate a computerized adaptive questionnaire for measuring health-related quality of life and health utility in patients with back pain.
| Principal Investigator: | Jacek Kopec (Arthritis Research Centre of Canada) |
| Co-investigators: | Maziar Badii (Arthritis Research Centre of Canada) Marcel Dvorak (Vancouver General Hospital) |
| Funding Awarded: | $29,995 |
| Competition Year: | 2003 |
Recurrence of Work-Related Low Back Injuries: The Association between Patient and Administrative Assessment
This study will examine injured workers’ perceptions of low back injury (LBI) recovery and recurrence following a return-to-work, and will determine how these are related to administrative measures of LBI recurrence based on episodes of work disability. The project will establish what injured workers classify as an injury recurrence, allowing development of recurrence measures that are consistent with injured workers’ views.
| Principal Investigator: | Douglas Gross (University of Alberta) |
| Co-investigators: | Radoslaw Wasiak, Amanda E. Young (Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety) |
| Funding Awarded: | $31,000 (2 years) |
| Competition Year: | 2007 |
Safeguarding our Indigenous Communities: Measuring the Health and Safety Culture of Aboriginal Fire Crews and Emergency Service Personnel in British Columbia
This research will examine the health and safety culture of Aboriginal fire crews and emergency service personnel. It will collect data relating to physiological, psychological and organizational characteristics which impact and influence workers’ injury rates, absenteeism and presenteeism. Its goal is to provide a better understanding of occupational resiliency in relation to health/safety culture of fire crews and emergency service personnel in B.C.’s Aboriginal communities, and to promote effective risk management and safety performance.
| Principal Applicant: | Brent Langlois, First Nations' Emergency Services Society (FNESS) |
| Co-Applicants: | Natasha Caverley (Turtle Island Consulting); John Cunningham, James McGregor (UVIC); Ajit Krishnaswamy (FORREX) |
| Funding Awarded: | $49,000 (Innovation) |
| Competition Year: | 2010 |
Seeking Compensation for Mesothelioma: Investigating why Individuals do or do not seek Workers’ Compensation Benefits in British Columbia
This study aims to investigate why individuals with mesothelioma do or do not seek compensation, by interviewing both individuals with mesothelioma and physicians. The results from this study will provide suggestions about how we can best inform individuals and their families, worker representatives/organizations, physicians, and employers about seeking compensation for mesothelioma (as well as for other occupational diseases).
| Principal Applicant: | Mieke Koehoorn (UBC) |
| Co-Applicants: | Georgia Pomaki, Chris McLeod, Paul Demers, Christie Hurrell (UBC); Christopher Lee (BCCA) |
| Funding Awarded: | $50,000 (Innovation) |
| Competition Year: | 2010 |
The Return-to-Work Assessment Study: Evaluating Methods for Evaluating Abilities
This study will undertake an evaluation of both performance testing and self-reporting on return-to-work readiness following a workplace injury. It will access the value of current employability assessment procedures and potentially inform the development of more efficient and cost-effective methods.
| Principal Investigator: | Douglas Gross (University of Alberta) |
| Co-investigators: | Michelle Battié, Linda Carroll (Univ. of Alberta); Alexander Asante (Alberta Health Services) |
| Funding Awarded: | $111,316 (2 years) |
| Competition Year: | 2009 |
Toward Effective Work Accommodation of Injured Workers: Accommodation as Social Interaction
This research aims to determine the particular aspects of modified work programs that are most helpful in effective and sustained return-to-work among injured workers. It will employ an interpretive qualitative method of analyzing interview data to explore the characteristics of effective job accommodation processes from the perspectives of the multiple players involved — including injured workers, case managers, vocational rehabilitation consultants and employers.
| Principal Investigator: | Izabela Schultz (UBC) |
| Co-investigator: | Richard Young (UBC) |
| Funding Awarded: | $29,300* |
| Competition Year: | 2011 |
*In partnership with the WCB of Nova Scotia
Training, Dissemination & Evaluation of a Depression Self-care Tool Delivered to Injured Employees
Completed
Depression is commonly associated with workplace-related physical injuries and can also have negative effects on recovery, rehabilitation and the return-to-work process. This research attempts to address this issue by developing an implementation strategy for the dissemination and integration of a low-cost, evidence-based self-care guide for depression within an existing Prevention & Early Active Return-to-Work (PEARS) program for injured workers with a primary diagnosis of musculoskeletal injury. It is anticipated that this project will enhance the success of early intervention for workers who have a primary physical health injury.
| Principal Applicant: | Elliot Goldner & Joti Samra (SFU) |
| Co-Applicants: | Merv Gilbert (Gilbert Action Org Consulting); Dan Bilsker (VGH); Catherine Fast, Catherine Kidd (VCHA) |
| Funding Awarded: | $50,000 (Innovation) |
| Competition Year: | 2008 |
Work & Hardiness: Exploring Rate of Return and Existential Courage
The purpose of the project is to explore the relationship between an injured worker’s speed of recovery and return to work and his/her level of hardiness. Given that hardiness has been shown to moderate the stress-illness relationship, it is hypothesize that those with high levels of hardiness will return to work faster and stay in their organisational roles longer than those with lower levels of hardiness. If this correlation is accurate, then steps can be taken to assist those with lower hardiness to achieve enhanced levels of control, commitment, and challenge and thus be better able to withstand stress.
| Principal Applicant: | David Malloy (University of Regina) |
| Co-Applicants: | Thomas Hadjistavropoulos, Kerri Staples, Phillip Sevigny (University of Regina); Derrick Larsen (Regina Qu'Appelle Health Region) |
| Funding Awarded: | $27,659* (Innovation) |
| Competition Year: | 2010 |
In partnership with WorkSafe Saskatchewan
Workplace Factors that Predict Return to Work in Workers with PTSD
A substantial number of workers who develop Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) resulting from a traumatic event at work fail to return to work. The goal of this research is to identify factors that impede or facilitate return to work among individuals with work-related PTSD.
| Principal Applicant: | Lynn Alden (UBC) |
| Co-Applicants: | Michael Anderson, Stephen Flamer (WorkSafeBC); Marci Regambal (UBC) |
| Funding Awarded: | $47,940 (Innovation) |
| Competition Year: | 2007 |
Workplace Injury Management: Using New Technology to Deliver Physician Education
Completed
The purpose of this project is to develop educational modules for physicians on activity-related soft tissue disorders (ASTDs) and the physician's role in return-to-work; and to evaluate the delivery of these modules in conventional and distance learning formats (video conferencing, web-based training, small group outreach visits, and lectures).
| Principal Investigator: | Harry Karlinsky (UBC) |
| Co-investigators: | Celina Dunn, Gordon Rumohr & Jill Musser (WorkSafeBC) |
| Funding Awarded: | $136,150 (2 years) |
| Competition Year: | 2001 |
WorkSafeBC Benefits Study Report 1: The Impact of Bill 49 on Benefits Adequacy and Equity
Completed
The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of legislative changes (made in 2002) in benefits calculation on the financial circumstances of workers’ compensation beneficiaries. It will investigate the adequacy and equity of wage-replacement benefits provided pre and post legislative change (Bill 49), and will include an analysis on earnings replacement, sociodemographic characteristics, regional differences, and marital formation/dissolution post accident.
| Principal Investigator: | Emile Tompa (IWH) |
| Co-investigators: | Cam Mustard (IWH), Mieke Koehoorn (UBC) |
| Funding Awarded: | $163,200 (2 years) |
| Competition Year: | 2006 |