Work-related stress is everywhere these days. Obviously us elves are pretty much immune, but looking at the Bristol Stress and Health at Work Study (Smith 2000) I can see that more than 50% of human respondents reported being extremely, very or moderately stressed at work. You lovely people do suffer from lots of emotional and [read the full story…]
If you see someone rubbing his back after lifting something or holding it while moving from a sitting to standing position what are your thoughts? Would you consider that this type of behaviour would influence your rating of a patient’s level of pain and ability to return to work? These types of actions can be [read the full story…]
In the low back pain (LBP) research there has been quite an interest in recent years as to which psychosocial factors are the most predictive of a poor outcome, both in terms of activity limitations and work absence. A systematic review by Iles et al (2009) showed that recovery expectations measured within three weeks of the onset [read the full story…]
In recent years workforce participation among individuals with rheumatic diseases has received considerable research attention, particularly with an ageing population who will be expected to stay at work longer. Therefore, a review by Gignac et al (2012) in Best Practice and Research Clinical Rheumatology on the effectiveness of a range of non-pharmacological interventions in managing work [read the full story…]
Today sees the opening of the Physiotherapy UK Conference, which is the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy’s new flagship annual event. Unsurprisingly, the programme in the musculoskeletal theme contains several presentations related to back pain. Seeing as this is still back pain week, I thought that I would continue from my previous blog about Yellow Flags and focus [read the full story…]
People with bipolar disorder have high levels of post 16 years education, but it’s estimated that only half of those living in Europe with the condition are in paid employment. This is a real concern because the illness typically affects young and middle-aged people who would normally be active in the workforce. Of course, living [read the full story…]
Although most Musculoskeletal Elves lead very physically active lives there are a small minority of Elves who are office based. Occasionally I hear them complain of episodes of low back pain and they have enquired of me as to what contributed to its onset. Although I felt I had a reasonable idea as to the main [read the full story…]
In these times of austerity, there is a lot of interest in computerised cognitive behavioural therapy (cCBT) as a treatment for people with depression and anxiety. It is hoped that this cheap and easy to deliver intervention can help to reduce the long waiting lists for face-to-face talking treatments. I’ve regularly blogged about cCBT over [read the full story…]
There’s a growing body of evidence that shows how relatively minor adjustments in the workplace can have a huge impact on supporting people with mental health problems and help them stay in work. The Department of Health has published guidance that will help employers think through the changes that they can make in the workplace [read the full story…]
As teachers across the UK have been recharging their batteries over the summer break are they also taking the opportunity to rest their weary bodies? Musculoskeletal disorders have a huge impact on work related absences. For example in the UK, in 2007/2008, on average, each person suffering from an upper-limb disorder took an estimated 13.3 [read the full story…]
