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Canadian Employee Perspectives on Disability Management

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2017

Shannon Wagner ,
Henry Harder ,
Liz Scott ,
Nicholas Buys ,
Ignatius Yu ,
Thomas Geisen ,
Christine Randall ,
Karen Lo ,
Dan Tang  and
Alex Fraess-Phillips Open the ORCID record for Alex Fraess-Phillips [Opens in a new window]
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Shannon Wagner*
Affiliation:
School of Health Sciences, University of Northern British Columbia, Canada
Henry Harder
Affiliation:
School of Health Sciences, University of Northern British Columbia, Canada
Liz Scott
Affiliation:
Organizational Solutions, Canada
Nicholas Buys
Affiliation:
Griffith Health Centre, Griffith University, Australia
Ignatius Yu
Affiliation:
Hong Kong Occupational and Environmental Health Academy, Hong Kong
Thomas Geisen
Affiliation:
School of Social Work, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, Switzerland
Christine Randall
Affiliation:
School of Allied Health Sciences, Griffith University, Australia
Karen Lo
Affiliation:
Hong Kong Workers’ Health Centre, Hong Kong
Dan Tang
Affiliation:
The Guangdong Provincial Work Injury Rehabilitation Centre, China
Alex Fraess-Phillips
Affiliation:
School of Health Sciences, University of Northern British Columbia, Canada
Benedikt Hassler
Affiliation:
School of Social Work, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, Switzerland
Caroline Howe
Affiliation:
Griffith Health Centre, Griffith University, Australia
*
Address for correspondence: Shannon Wagner, School of Health Sciences, University of Northern British Columbia, 3333 University Way, Prince George, British Columbia, Canada, V2N 0A8. E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

A Canadian sample was collected as an aspect of a large international project, with representation from Australia, Canada, China, and Switzerland. In each country, interview and survey data were collected using team-created research tools. Canadian survey data on disability management (DM) perceptions were collected from 218 employees in both public and private organisations. Our Canadian employee sample reported perceived influence of disability prevention on job satisfaction, physical health, mental health, and morale for both themselves and their coworkers. Return to work programs were seen as valuable for job satisfaction of both the employee and coworkers, as well as the physical health of coworkers. Similarly, stay at work programs were seen as valuable for mental health and morale of coworkers. There was no relationship between perceived influence of DM interventions and reduction of sickness absence. The influence of DM was perceived as more positive for private and/or nonunionised workplaces. No gender differences were evident.

Keywords

disability managementCanadajob satisfactionhealthmoraleabsenteeism
Type
Articles
Information
International Journal of Disability Management , Volume 12 , 2017 , e3
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2017 

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