What's new : Mental health at work

3rd CANADIAN CONGRESS ON RESEARCH ON MENTAL HEALTH AND ADDICTION IN THE WORKPLACE

SEPTEMBER 5 2008, LOEWS LE CONCORDE, QUEBEC, CANADA

3e COLLOQUE CANADIEN DE RECHERCHE SUR LA SANTÉ MENTALE ET LA TOXICOMANIE EN MILIEU DE TRAVAIL

LE 5 SEPTEMBRE 2008, LOEWS LE CONCORDE, QUÉBEC, CANADA

The Université Laval's Chair in Occupational Health and Safety Management and severals partners launched a prevention kit for work-related mental health problems. Entitled "Mental Health at Work...From Defining to Solving the Problem," this unique kit in Canada will allow workers and organizations to deal better with this problem which is the main reason for the increase in work absenteeism.

This document is the result of an epidemiological study in which the researchers evaluated a participatory intervention (employers, unions and management) carried out on a hospital's caregiving personnel; the purpose of the intervention was to prevent work-related mental health problems. It targeted psychosocial work environment constraints recognized as pathogenic: high psychological demand, low decision latitude and poor social support, imbalance between the effort invested and the recognition received. The preliminary results offer promise of a reduction in absenteeism due to a decrease in mental health problems, a reduction in personnel turnover as well as in costs of health care and in the compensation paid to the victims of occupational injuries associated with this type of problem, while at the same time, an increase in efficiency and productivity. The authors believe that the proposed intervention contributes significantly to the preservation of occupational mental health. They produced this non-technical tool to widen the intervention's dissemination; the tool makes it easier to understand the intervention and implementation as well as its adoption by other work environments.