Resources by CRWDP Members

1. A Clear Business Case for Hiring Aspiring Workers

2. DRPI AWARE

3. Community Conversations by Steve Mantis

 

1. A Clear Business Case for Hiring Aspiring Workers​

 

Rebecca Gewurtz, an assistant professor of occupational therapy at McMaster University's School of Rehabilitation Science, is the lead researcher on a new report from the Mental Health Commission of Canada that suggests hiring aspiring workers living with mental illness is good business.

The report, released on April 12, 2018 summarizes an in-depth Mental Health Commission of Canada research study led by Rebecca Gewurtz that examined the costs and benefits of recruiting and retaining people living with mental illness.

Click here to download a pdf copy of the report "A Clear Business Case for Hiring Aspiring Workers"

Click here to download a pdf copy of the report "National Forum: Reducing Employment Barriers for People Living with Mental Illness. Summary report and key recommendations". This report comes from the employment session held in Ottawa in November 2017 by the MHCC

MHCC Release "Hiring aspiring workers living with mental illness makes cents"

McMaster University News "McMaster researcher lead on mental health employment report"

Special to the Globe and Mail "Hiring aspiring workers living with mental illness makes both sense and cents", profiling the report "A Clear Business Case for Hiring Aspiring Workers" with relation to the Employee Recommended Workplace Award. Click here to access it.

 

2. DRPI AWARE

 

DRPI AWARE is a collaborative five-year project of York University in Canada that is altering the perspective on employment of persons with disabilities in India, Nepal, and Bangladesh. DRPI AWARE cooperates with organizations of disabled persons (DPOs) that work with employers to recognize the skills of disabled workers, instead of focusing on their disabilities and limitations. During the period 2013 to 2016, DRPI AWARE has successfully placed 163 people with disabilities in jobs in the open labour market.

The DRPI AWARE Manual, A Roadmap to Work, A Model for Employment for Persons with Disabilities outlines a successful employment model, which was developed and used to enable people with disabilities to get permanent meaningful jobs.  This new employment model disrupts the status quo.  It addresses barriers to employment, and has led to hundreds of people with disabilities being hired by employers across industries in India, Nepal, and Bangladesh. We are presenting a new pathway for repeat hiring by employers who have witnessed first-hand that people with disabilities can work and businesses are more successful when people with different abilities are included in their workforce.
 
The Manual provides insights into the reasons why to date the unemployment rates of people with disabilities has not changed much and it gives a new way, shown to be useful, to improve this situation.  Much of this is based on finding out from employers why they hire and why they do not.  Employers provided us with an understanding of what needed to change if people were going to get jobs in their businesses. Charity does not work but matching the required skills and skills that people already have works.  It is not about disability, but about hiring the right person for the right job. 

Contact Information:

Marcia RIOUX

+1-416-736-2100 ext. 22112, mrioux@yorku.ca

http://drpi.research.yorku.ca/asia-pacific/drpi-aware/

References:

Persuading employers that inclusive employment can support their business case. In: Zero Project Report 2017, p. 61. Available at https://zeroproject.org/zero-project-report-2017-out-now-and-available-for-download/

 

3. Community Conversations

by Steve Mantis

 

Steve Mantis hosts Community Conversations TV Show at the local Thunder Bay cable channel. Steve describes this project as "The weekly show where we explore important issues with Interesting Local People".

Below you may find links to several of the interviews in the TV Show series.

All Community Conversations videos are publicly available at Steve's YouTube Channel, as well as at his Facebook page. 

  1. Interview with Katherine Lippel, Professor, University of Ottawa and the distinguished research chair in occupational health and safety law
  2. Interview with Andy King, Researcher in Residence at McMaster University and retired United Steelworkers staffer focusing on Health Safety & Environment
  3. Interview with Patty Hajdu, January 2019
  4. Interview with Becky Casey, who has been researching people aging with a disability and reports on disabled workers experiences. To access the videos of the three-part interview published in June 2017, click the links below
  5. Interview with Iggy Kosny, a Scientist and the Chief Privacy Officer at the Institute for Work & Health, and a CRWDP co-investigator. Dr. Kosny has been looking at the experiences of injured workers and the workers compensation system for 10 years now and she shares some of that information in the interview. To access the videos of the three-part interview published in March 2017, click the links below:
  6. Interview with two participants from New Directions Speakers School - Dr. Richard Togman, Course Facilitator, and Amy Manning, the President of Vale Limbrick Youth Action group. Richard and Amy describe the unique Speakers School program to develop public speaking and communication skills focusing on achieving social justice. To access the videos of the three-part interview published in January, 2017, click the links below:
  7. Interview with Professor Joan Eakin, who has been studying injured workers and the Ontario workers' compensation system as part of the Research Action Alliance on the Consequences of Work Injury. To access the videos of the three-part interview published in November 2016, click the links below:
  8. Interview with Alec Farquhar. Alec reflects on his many years of experience in the areas of OH&S and Workers compensation.