News & Events | ReIntegrate

Closing Conference for ENWHP PH Work Initiative

Tilia Boussios — Wed, 23 Oct 2013 14:47:41 GMT

The conference in Brussels concluded the 9th European Network for Workplace Health Promotion (ENWHP) initiative “Work. Adapted for all. Move Europe”, focussing on promoting healthy work for employees with chronic illness (Public Health and Work, PH Work).

Chronic conditions and diseases have a substantial impact on the labour market and working life. This urges the need for effective job retention and workplace-based return-to-work (RTW) strategies and interventions, as a means of preventing employees with a chronic illness of moving into disability or early retirement. The PH Work project contributes towards the implementation of effective workplace health practices within corporate policies of enterprises in Europe

European Network for Workplace Health promotion (ENWHP) Launches Return to Work Guidelines

Tilia Boussios — Wed, 23 Oct 2013 14:46:14 GMT

The ENWHP has just launched European Guidelines on Return to Work for people with chronic illnesses, including mental health problems. These guidelines are aimed at managers in enterprises and they provide a practical guide to ensuring that the employee has the best possible chance of successfully returning to work. Produced by the PhWork project, the guide is called "Promoting healthy work for workers with chronic illness: A guide to good practice", is easy to read and discusses the following topics:

A good practice guide on chronic illness at work
What is meant by workplace health promotion, return to work and chronic illness in the context of sustainable employment?
What employers can do to promote healthy work
What you can do: A six-step action plan
Recommendations

New study on the Presence, Intensity, and Temporal Changes in Generalized Anxiety Disorder Maintenance Factors in Workers Undergoing Rehabilitation for Persistent Musculoskeletal Pain

Tilia Boussios — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 16:59:11 GMT

The aim of this study was to enhance understanding of the nature of the anxiety symptoms exhibited by workers with a musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) that had resulted in a work absence of more than 12 weeks, during their participation in a work rehabilitation program. The primary objective was to document the presence, intensity, and temporal changes in generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and its maintenance factors. These factors are intolerance of uncertainty, worries, negative problem orientation, and beliefs about the usefulness of worrying, cognitive avoidance, and depression. In addition, this study sought, on an exploratory basis, to document the relationships between the component factors of a GAD model and the main biopsychosocial factors associated with work disability, as well as their correlations with a return to work. This exploratory study is one of the first to document workers’ GAD-type and kinesiophobia-related anxiety symptoms during a rehabilitation program. Regarding GAD factors, the comparison of this study’s results with empirical and normative data also allowed the researchers to interpret and better understand the difficulties experienced by workers with a work disability.

Mental illness costs economy $51 billion per year in sick days - Companies advised to invest in intervention, support services

Tilia Boussios — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 07:59:00 GMT

For every 1,000 Canadian employees, 145 short-term leaves are taken annually and about 20 of those are related to mental health, the study found. "Only a fraction of disability leaves are due to mental illness yet it costs employers the most. It is crucial that businesses make mental health and wellbeing a priority to prevent disability in the first place," said Carolyn Dewa, lead investigator in the study and CAMH's head of work and well-being research. Dewa's study, which appeared in the summer issue of the Journal of Environmental Medicine, showed that the average short-term physical disability leave is about 33 days. On average employers pay $9,000 for each case. The study found the most common reasons employees take physical disability leave include respiratory illness, muscular skeletal problems, injury and digestive disorders. Depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder are the mental illnesses that appear most in the Canadian workforce, with each case leading to an average 65-day leave and $18,000 bill. About 10 per cent of Canadians in the workforce between 18 and 54 years old suffer from mental health issues. Dewa centred her investigation on an Ontario company with more than 12,400 employees in various cities and rural areas. She said the project was a "mutual collaboration" and the company approached CAMH because it was interested in making sure it had a healthy workplace. Dewa could not identify the company but said it represents 13 per cent of the Ontario resource sector with employees in various levels including maintenance, administration, engineering and technology. The researchers looked at more than 33,900 records from 2003 to 2006 to compile their findings and Dewa said her team's findings reflect the rest of the province. Companies should invest in early intervention strategies, access to support systems to help cope with stress and offer help with medical expenses to keep employees healthy and aware of a good work/life balance, Dewa said. The organization is now examining how strong the connection is between workplace stress and mental health. "We're still trying to figure out how much work contributes to overall stress. Once you walk into the door of your workplace, you don't stop thinking about home and once you get home, you don't stop thinking of work," she said. Another report released Wednesday said that Ontario could spend $7 billion a year in health care and lost productivity, as more than one in 10 Ontarians could be suffering from diabetes by 2020. The Canadian Diabetes Association's study said the illness already costs $4.9 billion annually, mostly in lost productivity and long-term disability claims. Another $1 billion is spent on hospital visits, doctors' fees and medications. © Copyright The Vancouver Sun

Reintegrate User Survey

Tilia Boussios — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 14:30:00 GMT

We need your help to evaluate and improve the Reintegrate website and e-Learning course.
Please take 5 minutes to answer this short survey.

Go to: http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dEJwMkg0Vk9RTVRVM2tBcG42bnk0dGc6MA

If you have any questions about the survey, please send an email to: ambrose[dot]research(at)gmail[dot]com

Sickies and Long-Term Absence Give Employers a Headache – CBI/AXA Survey

Tilia Boussios — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:39:00 GMT

The latest CBI/AXA survey revealed that average absence in the public sector totalled 9 days - 55% higher than the 5.8 day average of the private sector, where absence figures reduced during 2007.In the public sector, the highest absence rates were found in health/social care services (12.6 days) and police and probation services (9.9 days), while education saw lower overall levels (7.5%). Absence is also influenced by other factors including organisation size, region, manual/ non-manual employment, job satisfaction and employee morale. Non-work related stress, anxiety and depression were the most significant causes of long-term absence among non-manual staff. The survey highlights the need for a fresh, proactive approach to managing long-term absence and reducing the uptake of incapacity benefit. The introduction of “fit notes” is invited by employers - helping them to understand what duties an employee can perform and allowing them to make arrangements where possible for an earlier or phased return to work.

Official Launch of Reintegrate

Tilia Boussios — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:48:00 GMT

The Re-integrate project will hold its official launch at the IBEC offices at 84-86 Lower Baggot Street, Dublin on the 3rd of November 2009 at 1030. The project will be launched by the Minister for Labour Affairs, Mr. Dara Colleary, T.D.

At the launch, you will be able to see the final version of the much enhanced Reintegrate website. This contains new tools for supporting return to work - an absenteeism costs calculator and a method for assessing corporate training needs and corporate practice.

Absenteeism in the Irish Civil Service

Tilia Boussios — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:47:00 GMT

The Comptroller and Auditor General’s office published the first report since 1986 on absenteeism levels in the Irish Civil Service in 2007. It revealed that almost 60% of staff took at least one sickness absence day that year and that clerical officer grade staff took an average of 16 days sickness absence per year. 5% of all absences were of 20 days duration or longer, but these accounted for almost half of the total number of sick days. Women had a higher rate of absence than men.

SLAN Survey of Lifestyle, Attitudes and Nutrition in Ireland - Mental Health and Social Well-being

Tilia Boussios — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 16:19:43 GMT

This report presents the findings on mental health and social well being, and considers the influence of key socio-demographic variables, including age, gender, social class, education, income, residential location, employment status and marital status. The relationships between mental health, social well-being, self-rated health and selected health behaviours from the main survey are also examined. The present study aims to determine the levels of mental health in the Irish adult population, including positive mental health, psychological distress, major depressive disorder, generalised anxiety disorder, reported self-harm and perceived stigma. The survey also evaluates the levels of social well-being in the Irish adult population, including levels of quality of life, social support, loneliness, community involvement and neighbourhood perceptions.

Twentieth Edition of the Employment in Europe Annual Report

Tilia Boussios — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 11:41:00 GMT

The Commission will present its annual Employment in Europe report, with a particular focus this year on mobility. The Employment in Europe report 2008, as in previous years, addresses topics that are high on the European Union's employment policy agenda. It will give a comprehensive overview of the employment situation in the EU, as well as an analysis of key labour market issues, including immigration, post-enlargement intra-EU labour mobility, quality of work and the link between education and employment.

The Background

The Employment in Europe Report has been produced annually since 1989. It is the main tool for the analysis of employment performance and labour market developments in the European Union, the Acceding and the Candidate Countries. It provides the basic analytical and statistical background to underpin the Joint Employment Report as well as other instruments key to the European Employment Strategy which helps European Union countries to create more and better jobs. Objectives, priorities and targets are agreed at EU level. Governments then coordinate their efforts to promote employment.

Sources

Former Employment in Europe Reports

More information on Employment in the EU

Commissioner Špidla's website

REINTEGRATE Train-the-Trainers Course

Tilia Boussios — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 08:28:00 GMT

The REINTEGRATE Train-the-Trainer Course will take place in Porto, Portugal on November 10th and 11th 2008. This course will enable trainers from seven European countries to:

Understand the reintegrate approach
Develop and use training materials provided by the project
Implement training courses in their own countries

This training course is a vital part of the projects dissemination strategy. It is hoped the trainers (all of whom are members of the European platform for rehabilitation) will deliver training to stakeholders in each of the participating countries. In addition, it is hoped that they will provide users for the e-learning material on the web site.

Managing Absenteeism in the Public Sector

Tilia Boussios — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 08:28:00 GMT

Public Affairs Ireland will hold a half day seminar on the 20th of November, 2008 concerning the management of absenteeism in the public sector. The aim of the seminar is to provoke debate about good practice in the area of managing absenteeism, and to encourage public sector stakeholders to take a more comprehensive approach to the issue.

1st Reintegrate Training Course

Tilia Boussios — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 08:27:28 GMT

The first REINTEGRATE training course will take place at the IBEC premises in Dublin on the 30th of October, 2008. This will be a pilot training course, the aim of which is to test the acceptability of the course content and to provide the basis for preparing a train-the-trainers course for application throughout Europe.

The 30th of October will also see the launch of the e-learning course from REINTEGRATE on this web site. This will be the first version of the course, and it will be updated during 2009 on the basis of feedback from users.

The training materials from the training course will be made available on the web site to registered users shortly after the course takes place.