Health promotion at work: involvement of occupational therapy in a vocational training context

Background: Occupational injuries constitute a major public health concern in industrialized countries where work is a valued occupation that millions of people perform every day. Occupational therapists are often involved in... [ view full abstract ]

Background:
Occupational injuries constitute a major public health concern in industrialized countries where work is a valued occupation that millions of people perform every day. Occupational therapists are often involved in tertiary prevention of injuries through rehabilitation or socio-professional integration of injured workers. However, with a unique expertise in activity analysis and environmental and activity adaptations, occupational therapists are professionals of choice for intervening in primary prevention and health promotion.

Method:
Based on the occupational therapy model for health promotion "Do-Live-Well" (Moll et al., 2015), this project aims to elaborate training workshops on health promotion at work for students learning a trade. Following an analysis of work activities, the workshops were created using a socioconstructivism approach (Jonnaert, 2009). Students from three vocational training programs in Canada attended the workshops. A quasi-experimental study design with pre-post group was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the workshops on students’ 1) satisfaction, 2) knowledge and 3) skills (Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick, 2007).

Results:
Preliminary results suggest that learners are satisfied with the workshops and that the acquired knowledge meets the expected standards. Data about skills developed through the workshops are currently being.

Conclusion:
This project suggests a practical approach to health promotion at work based on analysis and adaptation of the occupation that could be established in several vocational schools.

Application to Practice:
This original project highlights the emerging role of occupational therapists in health promotion. It also reinforces the partnership that exists between occupational therapy and education.