Andy Bell summarises work by the Mental Health Policy and Research Unit looking at improving the social circumstances of people with mental health conditions. The study finds the most robust and compelling evidence available relates to gaining paid employment and tackling homelessness.
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Andy Bell looks at a new report from the Wellcome Trust entitled: Putting science to work – Understanding what works for workplace mental health.
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Ermintrude reflects on a Finnish study about social workers’ experiences of, and responses to, moral distress in their job and finds resonances for the UK.
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Martin Webber considers a Canadian study about social enterprises and employment opportunities for people with mental health problems such as psychosis.
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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…]
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…]
A previous blog by one of our industrious Musculoskeletal Elves looked at how osteoarthritis (OA) of the hip or knee affected work participation. This got me thinking about the converse situation – can work be a predisposing factor for the development of OA? We Elves are involved in quite a lot of heavy lifting, particularly around Christmas [read the full story…]
Osteoarthritis (OA) of the hip or knee joints is a very common condition amongst the elderly; however, what is often forgotten is that its onset is often while people are still in paid employment, which may lead to perceived difficulties in performing work tasks. We Elves are very hard-working individuals, so I asked myself, in [read the full story…]
