2022 Worker\u27s Compensation Institute

Meeting proceedings of a seminar by the same name, held November 9, 2022

Identity Conflicts and Emotional Labour in the Veterinary Profession

This research investigates professional identity conflicts and the emotional labour results from the attempt of reconciling the ideal and real selves. Four distinct elements are identified as the triggers of these conflicts. Specifically, professional, commercial, ethical and emotional dilemmas emerge when focused on the challenges vets experience in small animal clinics. This thesis revealed how recent changes in the veterinary profession have exacerbated the emotional costs of the tensions between their ideals and realities. The classical literature on professions and professionalism is rather unrealistic to aspire, but its core tenets continue to inform more contemporary research on professional occupations and professional identities. Their implications often show conflict between the ideal professional, opposed to the reality of the professional in everyday practice. Drawing upon service quality models, this thesis also draws attention to the complications in veterinary services due to the triadic nature of the vet-pet-client interactions. While the intensified emotions between the client and the pet have been recognised, the consequences of their effects have not been addressed in research to date. Although the construct of ‘the client’ governs notions of professional demeanour and accomplishment of expertise, this does not imply that technical knowledge is not valued. However, it is not well articulated into professionalism in the veterinary profession. To address this gap, face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted with fifty veterinary surgeons practicing in small animal clinics in the UK. The tension evidenced in the interviews was indicative of the gap between the service ideals espoused by the ideology of professionalism and the reality of actual practice. The data point to the disillusionment vets feel at not being able to live up to their professional ideals. This has resulted in intensifying the existing pressures and unrealistic expectations for professionals, which poses a risk to the career span of professionals and the future prospects of veterinary profession. Thematic analysis was employed to identify the elements that trigger conflicts of vets’ professional identity. The conclusions highlight the distinctiveness of professional emotional labour in the veterinary profession and give rise to dimensions of conflict. Intensification of professional labour is found to be closely interlinked with increasing rates of clinical depression and emotional burden. Results suggest future research needs to focus ways of deducing emotional labour among veterinary professionals, who alarmingly in their discourse consider suicide as a logical extension of euthanasia

An employee assistance programme as applied in a white-collar environment

The aim of the study is to determine the nature and utilisation of an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) in a white-collar work environment, and, more specifically, in a South African context. Information about the research topic was obtained from accumulate records of the Standard Bank's Employee Well-being Programme (EWP), structured interviews which were conducted with eleven EWP practitioners and a union representative, and from self-administered questionnaires which were completed by a sample of 153 of the bank's employees. The study includes an in-depth literature review on EAPs in general and issues such as the nature and scope of the bank's EWP, the extent to which the EWP addresses employees' needs, the nature and extent of the marketing of the EWP, and the extent to which the workforce is utilising the programme, were explored and described. The main findings are that the EWP shows evidence of acceptance by employees as well as a degree of utilisation that compares favourably with local and international trends. It also shows an incongruence between marketing and employee orientation and training initiatives and reveals that programme evaluation efforts are insufficient and could be significantly improved. Accordingly, recommendations have been made pertaining to the needs of employees, employee and union involvement, a multi-disciplinary approach to case management, marketing, training and evaluation with regard to the EWP, an EWP database, and a post-treatment follow-up.Social WorkM.A. (Social Work

Veteran's Affairs Wellness Kit: Discussions with fire fighters.

The purpose of this research was to answer the question What support do firefighters and their partners feel they need for the prevention and treatment of fire rescue occupational stress'? Phase One of the research was a reflexive auto-ethnography of the researcher during presentation of a workshop based on the Veteran Affair's Wellness Kit to the local fire rescue members. Phase Two consisted of personal interviews of the fire rescue members and their partners. The workshop format was positively accepted, and well attended. Interviews revealed findings with positives from the job, issues with safety, stress, technology usage, and training. Training in several areas was suggested for improvement as well as the continuing discussion of behavioural health. A broad holistic view of stress that institutes overall cultural and organizational changes to support stress prevention is recommended. Firefighters and their partners believed the level of support within the fire department sufficient for the prevention and treatment of occupational stress. The literature and the researcher's own experience suggest their recognition of occupational stress is insufficient and discussions with firefighters and their partners regarding behavioural health needs to continue. --P. ii.The original print copy of this thesis may be available here: http://wizard.unbc.ca/record=b180318

The Uptake of Sustainable Wastes Management : the Case of Electronic Medical Equipment

Le système de santé est un secteur hautement réglementé jouant un rôle important au sein de l’économie canadienne. En 2007, la santé représentait environ 11% du produit national brut, pour une somme s’élevant à près de 160 milliards $. Les hôpitaux occupent une place stratégique au sein du système de santé. Ils génèrent donc une quantité de déchets qui est proportionnelle à leur importance. Le taux de génération de déchets des hôpitaux nord-américains varie entre 1,5 et 3,9 kg par lit par jour. La littérature indique qu’environ 80% de ces déchets sont de nature domestique, le 20% restant est constitué de déchets cliniques. Lorsque certains déchets infectés, hasardeux ou radioactifs sont manipulés inadéquatement, mis au rebut ou éliminés incorrectement, ils peuvent représenter un danger direct pour les travailleurs oeuvrant en santé et pour le grand public. Dans un rapport datant de 2002, l’Organisation Mondiale de la Santé recommande aux autorités sanitaires d’élaborer un plan de gestion des déchets de la santé afin d’assurer, des pratiques sécuritaires, efficaces et environnementales. Dans la lancée de ce rapport, cette initiative de recherche propose d’identifier un produit clé qui soit particulièrement significatif pour la gestion durable des déchets de la santé : les équipements et machines électroniques utilisés par les hôpitaux pour les divers soins de santé, depuis le diagnostic jusqu’au traitement des patients. Ces équipements et machines électroniques comme par exemple les systèmes d’imagerie médicale, les pompes à infusion, les défibrillateurs, les sphygmomanomètres ou les thermomètres numériques sont de plus en plus présents dans les hôpitaux et autres institutions.---------- ABSTRACT The healthcare is a highly regulated sector and an important economic actor. According to the latest statistics, close to 10,6% of Canada’s GDP is devoted to healthcare and the healthcare system is the third largest employer in the country with 1,9 million employees Hospitals play a strategic and central role in the healthcare sector, are complex systems and, generate huge amounts of wastes that have adverse effect on human health and on the environment. It seems therefore rather pertinent to propose a framework for sustainable wastes management in the healthcare sector, and more specifically for the wastes generated by hospitals. A sustainable wastes management framework implies that healthcare wastes are minimized, even eliminated. It also requires strong product stewardship and adequate options at the end of product life cycle. It therefore points to a network of organizations that provides or arranges to provide a coordinated continuum of wastes management activities. A field study was conducted in order to obtain some preliminary empirical evidence on such network and gain insights into hospital wastes management. The main results from the field study are as follows. First, entities of the inter-organizational network for wastes could be identified and their respective roles could be outlined. The five broad groups of entities may be retained, namely the suppliers that provide the necessary inputs for hospitals' activities, the hospitals themselves which "consume" these inputs and transform them into waste, the waste treatment and disposal organizations that handle, treat, recycle and dispose of wastes

Building and maintaining healthy construction workers for longer working lives through better workplace design

Globally, there is an ageing population resulting in an older workforce; in the UK it is predicted that by 2050 over one third of the workforce will be aged over 50. Construction involves heavy manual labour where working into later life may be difficult and natural, age-related decline is exacerbated by working conditions. Co-developing ideas with workers using participatory approaches can facilitate positive, healthy change in the workplace. The aim of this thesis is to explore ways in which construction workers jobs and workplaces can be made healthier, easier and safer to facilitate healthy ageing and longer working lives. An in-depth interview study with 80 construction workers explored their understanding of their health and wellbeing at work and ideas for improvement. The Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire identified a high prevalence of symptoms in workers of all ages in the knees, lower back, wrists and hands. Many of these symptoms were considered to be work related; interestingly, this did not affect Work Ability Index ratings. Workers had good ideas to improve their health and wellbeing at work; over 400 changes had been made or were being sustained by workers around improving manual handling, PPE, tools and machinery and health and wellbeing. A further 265 new suggestions were made concerned with education and supervision, facilities and human resources. In-depth focus groups with senior stakeholders (n=18) in three construction organisations explored barriers and opportunities for change. They were concerned about the health and wellbeing of their workers; were keen to hear their ideas; and identified poor communication within the whole workforce as a barrier to change. Opportunities to improve the situation included better feedback to workers, and interactive toolbox talks to encourage idea generation and sharing experiences. Finally, participatory workshops with senior stakeholders and trades workers (n=23) captured ideas for the development of a resource for the industry to facilitate longer working lives. Participants strongly suggested that the resource should facilitate communication between the workforce and supervisors by being visually engaging, strongly health-related and interactive, to capture and maintain the attention and involvement of the workforce