Papers & Projects
| Peer Reviewed Publications |
The Superior Mental Wellness@Work Community Intervention. Kristman VL, Lowey J, Fraser L. Journal of the Ontario Occupational Health Nurses Association. 2019. Retirement expectations of older workers with arthritis and diabetes compared with those with no chronic diseases. Gignac MAM, Smith P, Ibrahim S, Kristman VL, Beaton D, Mustard C. Canadian Journal on Aging. 2019:1-19. doi:10.1017/S0714980818000685. Are there differences in workplace accommodation needs, use and unmet needs among older workers with arthritis, diabetes and no chronic conditions? Examining the role of health and work context. Gignac MAM, Kristman VL, Smith P, Beaton D, Badley EM, Ibrahim S, Mustard C. Work, Aging and Retirement. 2018;4(4):381-98. The role of sex, gender, health factors and job context in workplace accommodation use among men and women with arthritis. Annals of Work Exposures and Health. Gignac MAM, Ibrahim S, Smith PM, Kristman V, Beaton DE, Mustard CA. 2018;62(4):490-504. The association between a lifetime history of low back injury in a motor vehicle collision and future low back pain: a population-based cohort study. Nolet PS, Kristman VL, Côté P, Carroll LJ, Cassidy JD. European Spine Journal 2018;27(1):136-44. (PMID: 28391385). Effectiveness of workplace interventions in return-to-work for musculoskeletal, painrelated and mental health conditions: an update of the evidence and messages for practitioners. Cullen KL, Irvin E, Collie A, Clay F, Gensby U, Jennings P, Hogg-Johnson S, Kristman VL, Laberge M, McKenzie D, Newnam S, Palagyi A, Ruseckaite R, Sheppard D, Shourie S, Steenstra I, Van Eerd D, Amick III BC. Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, 2018;28:1-15. (PMID:28224415). Employer policies and practices to manage and prevent disability: conclusion to the special issue. Main CJ, Shaw WS & the Hopkinton Conference Working Group on Workplace Disability Prevention. Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, 2016;26:490-8. (PMID: 27475446). Sustaining work participation across the life course. Pransky G, Fassier J-B, Besen E, Blanck P, Ekberg K, Feuerstein M, Munir F & the Hopkinton Conference Working Group on Workplace Disability Prevention. Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, 2016;26:465-79. (PMID: 27704342) Researching complex and multi-level workplace factors affecting disability and prolonged sickness absence. Kristman VL, Shaw WS, Boot CRL, Delclos GL, Sullivan MJ, Ehrhart M & the Hopkinton Conference Working Group on Workplace Disability Prevention. Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, 2016;26:399-416. (PMID: 27550629) New business structures creating organizational opportunities and challenges for work disability prevention. Ekberg K, Pransky GS, Besen E, Fassier J-B, Feuerstein M, Munir F, Blanck P & the Hopkinton Conference Working Group on Workplace Disability Prevention.Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, 2016;26:480-9. (PMID: 27704343) Workplace interventions to prevent disability from both the scientific and practice perspectives: a comparison of scientific, grey literature and stakeholder observations. Williams-Whitt K, Bültmann U, Amick B, Munir F, Tveito T, Anema JR & the Hopkinton Conference Working Group on Workplace Disability Prevention. Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, 2016;26:417-33. (PMID: 27614465) Workplace outcomes in work-disability prevention research: a review with recommendations for future research. Young A, Viikari-Juntura E, Boot C, Chan C, Gimeno D, Linton S & the Hopkinton Conference Working Group on Workplace Disability Prevention. Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, 2016;26:434-47. (PMID: 27787691) Implementation science and employer disability practices: embedding implementation factors in research designs. Main C, Nicholas M, Shaw W, Tetrick L, Ehrhart M, Pransky G & the Hopkinton Conference Working Group on Workplace Disability Prevention. Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, 2016;26:448-64. (PMID: 27796914) Employer policies and practices to manage and prevent disability: forward to the special issue. Shaw WS, Main CJ, Pransky GP, Nicholas MK, Anema JR, Linton SJ & the Hopkinton Conference Working Group on Workplace Disability Prevention.Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, 2016;26:394-8. (PMID: 27562584). Return to work after work-related traumatic brain injury.Colantonio A, Vernich L, Salehi S, Carter A, Vartanian O, Bayley M, Kirsh B, Hébert D, Lewko J, Kristman V, Cassidy JD, Kubrak O, Mantis S. Neurorehabilitation, 2016;39(3):389-99. (PMID: 27497471) Supervisor and organizational factors associated with supervisor support of job accommodations for low back injured workers. Kristman VL, Shaw WS, Reguly P, Williams-Whitt K, Soklaridis S, Loisel P. Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, 2017;27(1):115-127. (PMID: 27032398) McGuire C, Kristman VL, Shaw W, Loisel P, Reguly P, Williams-Whitt K, Soklaridis S. Supervisors’ perceptions of organizational policies are associated with their likelihood to accommodate back-injured workers. Disability and Rehabilitation, 2016;17:1-8. (PMID: 26883582) Williams-Whitt K, Kristman VL, Shaw WS, Soklaridis S, Reguly P. A model of supervisor decisionmaking in the accommodation of workers with low back pain. Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, 2016;26(3):366-81. (PMID:26811170) Nolet PS, Kristman VL, Côté P, Carroll LJ, Hincapié CA, Cassidy JD. The association between a lifetime history of work-related low back injury and future low back pain: a population-based cohort study. European Spine Journal, 2016;25(4):1242-50. (PMID: 26208942) Mansfield L, Colantonio A, Kita M, Bayley M, Cassidy JD, Moody J, Kristman VL, Oshin V, Gomez M, Jeschke M, Mantis S. Return to work challenges following a work-related mild TBI: the injured worker perspective. Brain Injury, 2015;29(11):1362-9. (PMID: 26248721) Senthanar S, Hogg-Johnson S, Kristman VL. Working and living in Northern versus Southern Ontario is associated with the duration of compensated time off work. International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, 2015;6(3):144-54 (www.theijoem.com). (PMID:26174991) McGuire C, Kristman VL, Shaw W, Williams-Whitt K, Reguly P, Soklaridis S. Supervisor autonomy and considerate leadership style are associated with supervisors’ likelihood to accommodate back injured workers. Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, 2015;25(3):589-98. (PMID: 25595332) Shaw WS, Kristman VL, Williams-Whitt K, Soklaridis S, Huang Y-H, Côté P, Loisel P. The Job Accommodation Scale (JAS): Psychometric evaluation of a new measure of employer support for temporary job modifications. Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, 2014;24(4):755-65. (PMID: 24643785) Stergiou-Kita M, Mansfield E, Bayley M, Colantonio A, Gomez M, Jeschke M, Kirsh B, Kristman V, Moody J, Vartanian O, Cassidy JD. Returning to work following electrical injuries: Workers’ perspectives and advice to others. Burn Care Res. 2014;35(6):498-507. (PMID: 25100540) Cancelliere C, Kristman VL, Cassidy JD, Hincapié C, Côté P, Boyle E, Carroll L, Stålnacke B-M, Nygren-de Boussard C, Borg J. Systematic review of return to work after mild traumatic brain injury: Results of the International Collaboration on Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Prognosis. Archives of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation 2014;95(3 Suppl 2):S201-9. (PMID: 24581906) Kristman VL, Côté P, Yang X, Hogg-Johnson S, Vidmar M, Rezai M. Healthcare utilization of workers’ compensation claimants associated with mild traumatic brain injury: a historical population-based cohort study of workers injured in 1997-1998. Archives of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, 2014;95(3 Suppl 2):S295-302. (PMID: 24581915) |
| Research Projects |
Current Ongoing Projects:
Remote Work from Home and Employee Mental Well-being: A scoping reviewDescription: With remote work from home being on the rise, in combination with the large-scale adoption of working from home due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the need to better understand the impacts of remote work from home is significant. As evidence on the topic has grown, so too has the need for synthesis of available knowledge. A structured scoping review has not been completed in this area, resulting in lack of readily available information on the various effects of remote home-based workplace outcomes as they relate to mental well-being. Objectives: The general objective of this project is to synthesize the literature on remote work from home and mental wellbeing that has been produced over the past 5 years. The primary objective is to synthesize all existing knowledge on the relationship between remote work from home and mental well-being, in order to develop a conceptual model. The secondary objective is to identify the various terms used to describe remote work in the literature, identify key characteristics of remote work that should be included in a common definition moving forward. Final Report: attached Funded By: SSHRC Evaluating the Wiiji app to improve Indigenous workplace mental health: a mixed methods approachDescription: Through CIHR's strategic initiative Catalyst Grant – Mental Health Hackathon, we designed an Indigenous e-mental health intervention for the communities of the Nokiiwin Tribal Council to assist Indigenous workers in coping with lateral violence within the workplace – the Wiiji app. In Ojibway, Wiiji means "to help". The app is designed to provide resources regarding mental health, as well as provide a peer-support network for Indigenous workers. Supported workers may be better at coping with negative situations in the workplace. The next step is to implement the app in a strategic fashion to evaluate its effectiveness in improving workplace mental health (WMH) for Indigenous workers. Objectives: The general objective of this project is to evaluate the effectiveness of the Wiiji app to enhance Indigenous WMH. The primary object is to determine the association between the use of the Wiiji app and WMH in an Indigenous working population. We hypothesize that the more a worker uses the app, the more supported they will feel, resulting in improved WMH. Funded By: CIHR Workplace, supervisor, worker, and accommodation factors associated with workers' compensation outcomes: An Ecologic studyDescription: Our primary aim is to determine the association between workplace-level organizational, supervisor and worker characteristics, accommodation factors and the duration of lost-time claims. Funded By: Workers' Compensation Board of Manitoba Understanding labour force participation, work productivity and disability from the Indigenous perspective: a partnership with the Nokiiwin Tribal CouncilDescription: What is known from the existing literature to improve labour force participation, work engagement, work productivity, and absenteeism through interventions (broadly speaking, workplace or policy change, etc.) addressing the following factors:
Objectives: The overall goal of this project is to identify opportunities to increase the labour force participation, productivity, and disability prevention of the Indigenous population in Canada by developing culturally-sensitive policies and interventions. Specific objectives of this project include: determining the labour market participation of individuals; assessing the productivity levels of working individuals through measures of work engagement and presenteeism; ascertaining the levels of work disability within working individuals through measures of absenteeism; determining the association between workplace factors and labour market participation, productivity, and disability; and preliminarily identifying and developing interventions that will have the greatest impact in improving the labour market participation, productivity, and disability prevention; all within the communities of the Nokiiwin Tribal Council. Funded By: SSHRC Tradeswomen: Potential concerns of bullying, violence and harassment in BC and AlbertaDescription: When it comes to skilled trades, excluding cooks and hairstylists, women account for just 4.5% of the workforce. In the Canadian demographic, women are underrepresented in apprenticeship programs and in the skills trades generally. A study conducted by the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, a trade and industry association, found that "since males dominate the workforce, they also dominate the culture". Women working in a male-dominated workforce are more likely to face instances of workplace bullying and harassment. When bullying occurs in the workplace, a worker's mental health is impacted. Objectives: The objective of this project is to understand how organizational climate and culture influence the impact of bullying and harassment in the workplace on the mental health and wellbeing of women who are employed in the trade sectors of BC and AB. Funded By: WorkSafeBC Innovation at Work Program Improving workplace wellness and work disability outcomes in Northern populationsDescription: Persons with disabilities have lower participation rates in the labour force than those without. Northern Ontario has greater work disability durations than Southern Ontario, indicating that this is a current, important problem for Northern communities. This problem can only be addressed through transdisciplinary collaboration; which is possible and feasible between LU and UMD. Objectives: Five primary research partnership development activities are proposed, including meetings, workshops (x2), drafting a SSHRC Stage 1 Partnership Grant application; and drafting a SSHRC Stage 2 Partnership Grant. Project Lead: Dr. Vicki Kristman Mixed methods study of Immigrant parents' perceptions of factors contributing to and of strategies to prevent unintentional injuries in children in Northern and Rural OntarioDescription: Immigrant parents may have a different understanding of children's risk of injury and awareness of prevention strategies. This study will (a) explore immigrant parents' knowledge and beliefs of the factors contributing to the risk of unintentional injury to children and the strategies that they can use to prevent such injuries (Phase one) and (b) examine the acceptability of injury prevention programs for immigrant parents (Phase two). The target population will be immigrant parents in northern and rural Ontario. Parents are eligible to take part in this study if they have immigrated to Canada, and they have one child or children who are 18 years old or less. The results will generate knowledge that enriches our understanding of immigrant parents' beliefs and perceptions about the risk for and prevention of unintentional injuries in northern and rural Ontario. Objectives: To explore immigrant parents' knowledge and beliefs of the factors contributing to the risk of unintentional injury to children and the strategies that they can use to prevent such injuries (Phase one) and (b) to examine the acceptability of injury prevention programs for immigrant parents (Phase two). Funded By: SSHRC The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health and well-being of educators in YukonDescription: This qualitative research project aims to explore how the COVID-19 pandemic and associated changes to the delivery of education have impacted the health and well-being of educators in Yukon. Objectives: Our main objective is to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic and associated changes to the delivery of education have impacted the health and well-being of educators in Yukon. The following research sub-questions serve to refine the central research question:
Funded By: Yukon Government COVID-19 Recovery Program COVID-19 and policing in Ontario: preparing for future pandemics.Description: The COVID-19 pandemic underscored that many nations were ill-prepared to respond to a contagious,life-threatening virus. However, this event has given cause and opportunity to conduct the research necessary to assist community partners now and future generations in their preparedness for pandemics. These outputs will answer the following questions:
Project Lead: Dr. Alana Saulnier Evaluation of the WSN Safe Driving on Forest Roads Training Program.Description: One of the major challenges facing the forest industry is a shifting demographic, many of the experienced drivers are transitioning to retirement and there is now an influx of new drivers, many of whom do not have experience driving on forest roads. The logging workplace risk assessment, which was completed in November 2017, identified distracted driving as the top risk for the sector. Objectives: The primary objective of the proposed study is to quantify the effect of a Safe Driving on Forest Roads training program on self-reported forest road driving behaviour and forest road driving knowledge. A secondary objective is to conduct a process evaluation to determine the reach, compliance, appreciation, usage barriers, and users' perceived effectiveness of the training program. Funded By: WSN Contract Emotional abuse at work: an international partnershipDescription: Partnership development between the University of Helsinki (Finland) and Lakehead University (Thunder Bay, ON) Funded By: Lakehead University Vice-President of Research and Innovation Award Transitioning to future of work: an intersectional study of vulnerable youth and young adults.Description: It is unclear how different driving forces that characterize the future of work affect the transition into the labour market for youth and young adults. In the proposed study, we define the transition to work as the work-related changes that characterize the early career phase such as finding paid work, sustaining employment and career advancement (e.g., evolving work roles, skills and expertise related to the availability and type of employment).Also important is that the transition to work is not a uniform process. Some workers may be more likely to face disadvantage within the labour market. Groups, including women, visible minorities, immigrants, people living with disabilities, LGBTQ2+, or those with low socioeconomic status historically have been underrepresented in the workforce, and are more likely to report job insecurity, earning lower wages, and lacking access to regulatory benefits. Belonging to more than one of these vulnerable groups can result in intersecting challenges that exacerbate labour market inequities. Yet, there remains a paucity of research on how the future of work poses challenges and opportunities for different groups of young people. Objectives:
Funded By: SSHRC Workers Compensation Experience StudyDescription: Resources to support individuals involved in the WSIB are limited, particularly in Northern Ontario, potentially creating or worsening the psychological illness that brought people to the WSIB to begin with. The purpose of the Workers Compensation Experience study is to describe the mental health and social service needs of injured and ill workers in Thunder Bay and District involved in the WSIB process. To do this, 16 Injured/ill workers and 12 community service providers will be recruited to complete interviews about the needs of workers in the WSIB process. Forty additional injured/ill workers will also complete surveys on-line about their WSIB experience. This will help us to identify gaps, quality issues, and to inform future service improvements and developments. Objectives: To describe the mental health and social service needs of injured and ill workers in Thunder Bay and District involved in the WSIB process Emotional Abuse: Violations of Workplace Psychological SafetyDescription: As part of a research partnership with the University of Helsinki, this research project is exploring the facets of emotional abuse in the workplace. The project has collected over 70 qualitative interviews from Canada, United States, Finland and the UK with targets of emotional abuse at work. Areas of exploration include abusive supervision, mental health strain, and workplace stigma. Objectives:
Funded By: Lakehead University VPRI Strategic fund and VPRI International Research Partnership Award Understanding COVID-19-Related Impacts on the Health and Well-Being of Educators in the YukonDescription:This qualitative research project aims to explore how the COVID-19 pandemic and associated changes to the delivery of education have impacted the health and well-being of educators in Yukon. Objectives:
Funded By: Yukon Government’s COVID-19 Recovery Research Program |