Identifying predictors of return to work and the duration of time off work in first responders affected with musculoskeletal injuries or mental health issues.

Purpose: To identify predictors of return to work, duration of time off work, and claim closure for first responders experiencing injuries or illnesses, and summarize the claim data.

Methods: First responder claims collected between January 2012 and July 2017 were obtained from a disability management company. Known predictors of return to work were extracted from the data including age, sex, diagnosis, years of service, claim lag, medical report lag, and the return-to-work duties.

Bioinformatic analysis suggests potential mechanisms underlying parasitoid venom evolution and function.

Hymenopteran parasitoid wasps are a diverse collection of species that infect arthropod hosts and use factors found in their venoms to manipulate host immune responses, physiology, and behaviour. Whole parasitoid venoms have been profiled using proteomic approaches, and here we present a bioinformatic characterization of the venom protein content from Ganaspis sp. 1, a parasitoid that infects flies of the genus Drosophila.

International employee perspectives on disability management.

Purpose: To provide an international analysis of employees' views of the influence of disability management (DM) on the workplace.

Methodology: An international research team with representation from Australia, Canada, China, and Switzerland collected survey data from employees in public and private companies in their respective regions. Due to lack of availability of current measures, a research team-created survey was used and a total of 1201 respondents were collected across the four countries.

Attitudes towards disability management: A survey of employees returning to work and their supervisors.

Objectives: Return to work after a leave on disability is a common phenomenon, but little is known about the attitudes of employees or their supervisors towards the disability management process. We report on employee and supervisor feedback from one disability management experience.

Participants: 389 consecutive employees from the Ontario offices of a single private Canadian insurance company returning to work from short-term disability, and their supervisors.

Identifying poor symptom control in Parkinson's disease.

The range of drugs available to treat people with Parkinson's disease has never been greater. However, patients still encounter difficulties in non-specialist settings where there is often confusion over drug selection, dosage and the timing of dosages. Small adjustments to the type of drug used, dosage and timing can have a significant impact on the control of Parkinson's disease and with it the quality of life of patients, carers and their families.

Integrating disability management into strategic plans: creating healthy organizations.

The integration of disability management into the strategic planning of a corporation ensures a work environment is created that motivates employees to consistently meet customer expectations. Disability management strategies can achieve significant decreases to the human and financial cost of workers' compensation, sick leave or short term disability, and long-term disability. The business case for disability management including effective return to work programs clearly supports program implementation to enhance employee engagement, delivery of corporate priorities, and improvement to the company's bottom line.

Post offer screening.

A well designed post offer screening program including PDA, clear acceptable criteria, physical screening, standardized objective tests, and occupational and job specific tests can substantially decrease the number of injuries and resulting costs. The results of a study suggest post offer screening makes a difference on post hire injury and resulting costs. These findings are consistent with the literature reviewed.