CRWDP E-Alert November, 2016 – January, 2017 Communications Activities I. Working Policy newsletter Fall 2016, 2(2) (English version) was distributed by e-mail and is available on CRWDP website. II. Working Policy newsletter Fall 2016, 2(2) (French version) is now available on CRWDP website. III. Calendar of events is now available on CRWDP website. IV. We’ve been adding presentation slides and videos from CRWDP Symposium that was held in November 20, 2015. V. Many new studies have been recently added to CRWDP website, including seed grant reports and research papers VI. If you don’t see your name among participants’ list here, please forward your photo and profile to your Cluster Coordinator or to Kathy Padkapayeva VII. Help us keep CRWDP website up-to-date by forwarding the information about relevant events and activities to your Cluster Coordinator or to Kathy Padkapayeva Operations Activities I. Normand Boucher has assumed the coordination of CRWDP Quebec cluster along with Marie-Josée Durand. Congratulations, Normand, and thank you for taking this role! We thank Ysabel Provencher for her invaluable contributions in the role during the first few years of CRWDP. II. Marie-Ève Schmouth is the new CRWDP Provincial Coordinator (Quebec) starting February, 2017. Marie-Ève has been working with Normand Boucher for over two years, doing a great job supporting the research team. We look forward to working with you, Marie-Eve! III. Piotr Majkowski is resigning from his position of Provincial Coordinator (British Columbia) starting March 2017. Piotr, thank you for your amazing work supporting and coordinating the activities of the Centre! It has been a great pleasure to work with you. IV. Disability Inclusion Group at Memorial University (DIG-MUN) held a meeting on November 25th, 2016, to develop the group short-term goals and priorities. To find out more about the group, contact Chrissy Vincent, CRWDP Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial Coordinator. V. We continue working on Partnership Grants Midterm Report (Due April 30, 2017) to highlight our achievements and describe plans for the second-half of CRWDP initiative. This report is critical for continued funding of the initiative. We’ve been contacting all CRWDP participants to collect the information on relevant research contributions, knowledge translation activities, student supervision, curriculum development, and funding.  Please help us collect relevant information by forwarding the details of your contributions to you CRWDP cluster coordinator or to Kathy Padkapayeva. We appreciate your help with preparing the report! Students and New Researchers News I. Nazia Siddiqui is a Masters student at the University of Waterloo, supervised by Barb Neis. She will be working with Maureen Haan, Kathy Hawkins and Steve Mantis to map disability organizations in Newfoundland & Labrador and Ontario. Nazia, welcome to CRWDP! II. Samadhi Mora Severino has joined CRWDP and will lead one of CRWDP Ontario Cluster Policy Pod. Samadhi is a Masters Candidate in Critical Disability Studies at York University. Samadhi, welcome to CRWDP! III. CRWDP post-doctoral students have been recruited for the year 2016-2017: * Cameron Crawford (working with Marcia Rioux), 2016-2017 * Dana Howse (working with Barb Neis and Katherine Lippel), starting Jan 2017 * Valerie Albert (working with Marie-José Durand), starting Jan 2017 * Sally Kimpson (working with Mieke Koehoorn and John Calvert), starting April 2017 IV. Graduate stipends have been awarded to the following students in 2016-2017: * Aleksandra Stefanovic (Bornstein, Memorial), PhD, renewal * Ololade Animashaun (Cooke, Memorial), MA, new * Audrey Bernard (Boucher, Laval), MA, new (summer 2016) * Benedicte Calvet (Laberge, Quebec a Montreal), PhD, renewal * Dana Corfield (Rioux, York), PhD, renewal * Tammy Bernasky (Rioux, York), PhD, renewal * Sharanya Varatharajan (MacEachen, Waterloo), PhD, renewal * Firat Sayin (Zeytinoglu, McMaster), PhD, renewal * Julia Goyal (MacEachen, Waterloo), MA, new * Sabrina Hossain (Gewurtz, McMaster), MA, new * Young Jung (Tompa, McMaster), PhD, new * BC Cluster has just launched its graduate stipend competition, with a deadline of February 10th, 2017. Contact Piotr Majkowski for more information V. CRWDP students 2015-2016 have submitted their annual reports. Well done! Quotes from the students: Rodrigo Finkelstein Ogueta notes “I am extremely grateful for the scholarship given by the center. It has been a tremendous financial assistance that has allowed me to focus in my research. Thank you a lot!!” Mana Rezai notes “I would like to thank you once again for this graduate award on behalf of the CRWDP. These funds have supported my doctoral work over the past year and I look forward to sharing the published manuscripts with you in the near future.” Margaret Oldfield notes “I am very grateful for the funding I received from CRWDP when I was a student, and the opportunities to expand my academic network by attending CRWDP events.” Cam Crawford notes “The CRWDP was one source of income that enabled me to bring my PhD research closer to completion.” Pam Lahey notes “My first year of PhD studies in Rehabilitation Science at McMaster University was made possible in part by the student stipend I received from the Center for Research on Work Disability Policy (CRWDP). I am grateful to the Centre for their support. ...I am honoured to be a part of this necessary and productive area of research and will continue to volunteer my time as an academic researcher with the Center as I go into my second year of studies.” We are pleased to know that CRWDP stipends help the students to conduct meaningful research in the area of work disability and work disability policy! Participants and Partners News and Resources I. Steve Mantis hosts Community Conversations TV Show at the local Thunder Bay cable channel. His interview with Professor Joan Eakin who has been studying injured workers and the Ontario workers compensation system, is now available on YouTube channel: Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zspmB0D-YLw Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yn0_JrMZHOo Part 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiJVARGff2Q You can access these and other Community Conversations by following the link to the Facebook page:    https://www.facebook.com/CommunityConversationsShawTV/ II. We would like to welcome Karin Mainwald who has recently joined CRWDP. Dr. Maiwald’s research interests include Canada’s disability and return to work policies. As a member of the Research Department for the Interior Health Authority in BC, an opportunity presents to assist, as well as mentor and supervise undergraduate and graduate students who share an interest in the WDP field. Karin is working with the CRWDP/BC Cluster to help examine vocational rehabilitation in order to address the needs of workers with ill health-related problems and early return-to-work. Respecting relationships and connections between the BC health authorities, an opportunity presents to compare and contrast policy approaches and outcomes. Research Highlights I. In order to foster action, the CRWDP Ontario Cluster has launched Ontario policy pods. Policy pods will focus on addressing a policy issue through immediate action-oriented strategies.  Three policy pods have been identified: * Building and transforming employer’s capacity (Leads: Marcia Rioux, Douglas Waxman and Samadhi Mora Severino) * Income Replacement (Leads: Rebecca Gewurtz, Pamela Lahey and Dana Corfield) * System for monitoring the employment rights of people with disabilities (Leads: Cameron Crawford and Tammy Bernasky) For more information and to join a policy pod, contact Emily Hostland, CRWDP Ontario Cluster Coordinator II. Reports for CRWDP Seed Grants (2014-2015) have been received and added to CRWDP website. Both pdf and text/word versions of the reports are available: * The SafetyNet Centre for Occupational Health and Safety in partnership with The Coalition of Persons with Disabilities-Newfoundland and Labrador (COD-NL) “Disability Support Services in Newfoundland and Labrador and Canada:  Impacts on Labour Market Participation for individuals with Disabilities”. * Gewurtz, R. & Premji, S. and Holness, L. “Injured Workers Who Experience Challenges Returning to Work: Pathways and Consequences”. * Furrie, A., Lero, D., D’Aubin, A., Ewles, G. “Willing but Unable: A Population in Waiting”. * Hilgert, J. “The Human Rights of Injured Workers: Social Protection Floors and the Canadian Work Disability System”. * Laberge, M., Breslin, C., Charland, G. L’utilisation des TIC pour soutenir l’accès à l’emploi des adolescents handicapés ou en difficultés d’apprentissage ou d’adaptation (HDAA) [The use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to support access to employment for adolescents with special needs]” * Provencher, Y. (PI). With partner le Ministère de l’emploi et de la solidarité sociale. “La mesure de l’incapacité: un état des lieux”. * Furrie, A., Bewurtz, R., Porch, W., Crawford, C., Haan, M., Stapleton, J. “Episodic Disabilities in Canada” III. Check out the report and the peer reviewed article on the evidence synthesis of workplace accommodation policies and practices, financially supported by the Office for Disability Issues, Employment and Social Development Canada: * The report by Tompa, E., Buettgen, A., Mahood, Q., Padkapayeva, K., Posen, A., Yazdani, A. “Evidence Synthesis of Workplace Accommodation Policies and Practices for Persons with Visible Disabilities” is available here: https://crwdp.ca/en/new-studies * The article by Padkapayeva, K., Posen, A., Yazdani, A., Buettgen, A., Mahood, Q, Tompa, E. (2016) Workplace accommodations for persons with physical disabilities: Evidence synthesis of the peer-reviewed literature, Disability & Rehabilitation (online first) is available here: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09638288.2016.1224276 IV. The report by Sherri Torjman and Anne Makhoul “Disability Supports and Employment Policy” is now available on the website: https://crwdp.ca/en/new-studies V. Open access research article by CRWDP student Rodrigo Finkelstein can be accessed here: http://journals.sfu.ca/stream/index.php/stream/article/view/132 Events I. Bancroft Institute organizing a Research and Action Workshop (Feb 9-10, 2017) “Measuring Return to Work”. Keynote speaker: Ellen MacEachen  [see Event details]. Presentations will be recorded and made available as podcasts. RSVP to BancroftInstitute@gmail.com II. Help spread the word about the upcoming conference, Safe, Healthy, and Productive Workplaces: Learning from Research and Practice conference on June 1-3, 2017 in Vancouver. This multidisciplinary conference brings together business/labour leadership and other stakeholders who play a role in creating and sustaining safe, healthy, and productive workplaces learning from current research and practice. The Centre for Research on Work Disability Policy is a Participating Organization for this conference. As a Participating Organization, CRWDP participants and partners are eligible for registration discount of $90.00. Early-Bird Registration ends on March 31, 2017, so we ask you to spread the word before then to get your networks get the best pricing possible! Conference Details Title: Safe, Healthy, and Productive Workplaces: Learning from Research and Practice Conference Dates: June 1-3, 2017 Main Event:       University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC Satellite Sites:   University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, BC  UBC – Okanagan Campus, Kelowna, BC Abstract deadline: February 28, 2017 Website: http://cirpd.org/conference   Registration / Abstract Submission E-Mail: conference@cirpd.org Click here to register to attend this exciting event! Other Opportunities I. CRWDP would like to alert its partners that a new Post-Doctoral-Fellowship opportunity has been announced at Monash University, Melbourne. The work chiefly focuses on Return To Work outcomes after motor vehicle accidents. For more information, check out: tinyurl.com/hf9x923  Resources I. Check the website of the Institute for Work & Health for details and the videos from 2016 Alf Nachemson Memorial Lecture celebrating Wolfgang Zimmermann, founder and executive director of the National Institute of Disability Management and Research (NIDMAR), for his contributions to improving workplace practices surrounding the (re)integration of people with disabilities: * The videos of the presentations made by Andrew King, Joachim Breuer, Honourable Wayne G. Wouters, PC, and Wolfgang Zimmermann, are available here: https://www.iwh.on.ca/nachemson-lecture * News Release focusing on Wolfgang’s call for better workplace integration of persons with disabilities, is available here: https://www.iwh.on.ca/media/2016-oct-27 II. Magnet, a not-for-profit social innovation, founded by Ryerson University in partnership with the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, utilizes an advanced blind recruitment model that can effectively and efficiently job match people with opportunities reflecting their skills, preferences and talent. Magnet has a unique “self-ID” feature that provides job seekers with a positive way to privately and securely identify their disability as a strength. Once registered, candidates are matched to employers committed to hiring people with disabilities based upon their skills, preferences and talents. The power of Magnet was highlighted at its Innovation, Diversity, Employment and Ability (I.D.E.A.) conference at Toronto’s Ryerson University held on January 17, 2017. Two new partnerships with CIBC and Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital were announced during this conference. For more details, visit https://www.magnet.today/ III. On January 24th, 2017, a webinar Supports for Persons with Episodic Disabilities in the Labour Market was organized by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC). The details for the webinar are available here: http://www.neads.ca/en/about/events/index.php?id=1705 Relevant publications: * “Fit Mind, Fit Job. From Evidence to Practice in Mental Health and Work”. OECD, March 4, 2015. Available at: http://www.oecd.org/els/fit-mind-fit-job-9789264228283-en.htm * “Sickness, Disability and Work: Breaking the Barriers: Canada. Opportunities for Collaboration” OECD, July 30, 2010. Available at: http://www.oecd.org/els/sickness-disability-and-work-breaking-the-barriers-9789264090422-en.htm * Tyler Meredith and Colin Chia, “Leaving Some Behind: What Happens When Workers Get Sick”, IRPP, September 3, 2015. Available at: http://irpp.org/research-studies/report-2015-09-03/