How does work work for people with bipolar affective disorder?

Despite modern treatments, bipolar disorder remains a chronic, relapsing disorder that leads to long-term psychosocial disability. A review of the literature suggests that while employment rates amongst individuals with bipolar disorder may improve over time, and are relatively better compared to some other chronic mental disorders, employment prospects do not match the high scholastic achievements seen amongst this group of people before the onset of their illness. For those with bipolar disorder, clinical recovery does not necessarily mean functional recovery, and the usual early age of onset may further reduce an individual's preparedness for employment. Two brief vignettes are used to discuss how occupational therapists can help their clients maintain their sense of hope in vocational recovery, gain better self-awareness and work with clients at various stages of recovery rather than waiting for full functional recovery. Further research is required to help identify specific factors that contribute to the success of employment integration amongst people with bipolar disorder.     

Does work have a meaning? Basis for a positive work culture

From the anthropological point of view work is the expression and fulfilment of the absolute spirit in the finite sense and is, by its essence, cooperation. This obliges us to reverse the question: "does work have a meaning?", to: "does work have a meaning for workers? Does it allow self-fulfilment?" Work has a meaning if the worker's psychophysical integrity is safeguarded, if by working the individual achieves self-fulfilment as a person, if it has a sense of community. Man as an "actor" achieves self-fulfilment through technical and professional competence, thereby overcoming organizational and social conflicts. Today reducing human and social relations to an economic transaction will lead to the destruction of the meaning of life and work. The study of suicide cases in France Telecom shows that a human being inserted in the working environment wants most of all to obtain recognition. He or she will accept praise or even punishment if this is done with transparency, because the person will acknowledge in such decisions a recognition of his/herself. Many enterprises and consequently many personnel managers do not, in their essence, perceive of any meaning of work, but consider only the instrumental element. The workforce cannot be considered as a commodity, work is embodied in human beings. So either people aim at self-fulfilment or fall into anomie and depression, even to the point of the destructive impulse of elimination. The re-humanization of work and the treatment of enterprises (which are "ill" because they no longer possess any meaning of work) is the challenge that awaits us.     

Does work heal? The role of work in social rehabilitation in prisons

Less than 18% of current convicts in Italy participate in job rotation (about one month a year) employed by the Prison Administration. Only 1% are employed by cooperative societies or external companies with a regular paid job (with national collective sector contracts). In this 1% relapse into crime is much lower. What features must work possess to reduce recidivism? Work must have a meaning. From the story of several cases key-words emerge that are not referred to strictly occupational categories, but to "affective" categories, such as esteem - good - human context - care of oneself- meaning - value. The expression "high and low" is also used as if the acceptance of a cyclic yield and a never final result could be principles to live with and which work organization must constantly address. Therefore the solution does not consist only in giving work to fragile individuals such as a prison inmates or the disabled, but the real problem is: what kind of work do we want to give them?. Or better, what do we want to give them through work? For the human being, because of human nature itself work has an intrinsic value, via which self-fulfilment and meaning are sought. Self-fulfilment via work, the discovery of one's own capabilities, inclinations and attitudes, allows the human being to know his own possibilities and limits. Work becomes one with the person who, through what he/she person does, can take care of his/herself and of his/her true nature. And it is not the kind of work that makes the difference: in the "noblest" work as in the most humble t is possible to work with diligence, ingenuity and competence. It is possible to achieve a sense of oneself dedicate oneself to the job and discover the positive effects of this attitude to work.     

Understanding work related musculoskeletal pain: does repetitive work cause stress symptoms?

Background: Pain in the neck and upper extremity is reported with high frequency in repetitive work. Mechanical overload of soft tissues seems a plausible mechanism, but psychological factors have received considerable attention during the past decade. If psychological factors are important for development of regional pain in repetitive work, stress symptoms would likely be on the causal path.

Aims: To examine whether objective measures of repetitive monotonous work are related to occurrence and development of stress symptoms.

Methods: In 1994–95, 2033 unskilled workers with continuous repetitive work and 813 workers with varied work were enrolled. Measures of repetitiveness and force requirements were quantified using video observations to obtain individual exposure estimates. Stress symptoms were recorded at baseline and after approximately one, two, and three years by the Setterlind Stress Profile Inventory.

Results: Repetitive work, task cycle time, and quantified measures of repetitive upper extremity movements including force requirements were not related to occurrence of stress symptoms at baseline or development of stress symptoms during three years of follow up.

Conclusions: The findings do not indicate that repetitive work is associated with stress symptoms, but small effects cannot be ruled out. Thus the results question the importance of mental stress mechanisms in the causation of regional pain related to repetitive work. However, the findings should be interpreted with caution because the stress inventory has not been validated against a gold standard.

     

Is work engagement related to work ability beyond working conditions and lifestyle factors?

Purpose

To examine the associations of age, lifestyle and work-related factors, and particularly work engagement with the work ability index (WAI) and its sub-dimensions.

Methods

Step-wise regression analysis with a sample of Finnish firefighters (n?=?403) was used. The outcome variables were the WAI and its six sub-dimensions. The independent variables consisted of age, lifestyle variables (alcohol consumption, BMI, smoking, physical exercise, and sleep problems), working conditions (job demands, physical workload, supervisory relations, and task resources), and work engagement. The outcome variables and all the variables related to lifestyle, working conditions, and work engagement were measured in 2009. Work ability at baseline 10?years earlier was adjusted for in the models.

Results

Work engagement, age, physical exercise, sleep problems, and physical workload were associated with the WAI. All independent variables, except BMI and alcohol consumption, were associated with at least one sub-dimension of the WAI after controlling the baseline WAI. Lifestyle variables, working conditions, and work engagement were more strongly related to the subjective WAI sub-dimensions than to the two more objective WAI sub-dimensions.

Conclusions

Work engagement was significantly associated with work ability even after adjusting for various factors, indicating its importance in promoting work ability. Other key factors for good work ability were frequent exercise, good sleep, non-smoking, low job demands, low physical workload, and high task resources. More specifically, this study suggests that in maintaining work ability, it is valuable not only to promote lifestyle factors or working conditions, but also to enhance employees’ positive state of work engagement.     

Why doesn't performance pay work?

The NHS is about to embark on the widescale introduction of performance-related pay. A number of recent studies have seriously questioned the efficacy of merit pay. Utilizing the expectancy theory of motivation, explains why performance pay is unlike to motivate NHS staff.