Overview
Key words: Risk assessment, personal support workers
Timeline: 2011-2012
Researchers: David Andrews (Principal Investigator, University of Windsor), Patricia Weir (University of Windsor), Janessa Drake (York University). Student researchers: Michael Sonne (McMaster University), Alison Schinkel-Ivy (York University), Brian Nairn (York University)
Funder: Centre of Research Expertise for the Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders (CRE-MSD)
Project type: Seed Grant
Sector/Workplace type: Healthcare
Theme:
Theme
3
Risk
assessment
and
hazard
identification
Background/rationale
Personal support workers (PSWs) are an important group in our health care system and little has been done to improve their work conditions.
Research question/objectives/methods
The objectives of this project were to (1) meet with the workplace stakeholder who partnered with them on the grant to determine the best course of action, and (2) based on the outcome of that meeting, they decided to try and develop a larger project that would be more appropriate for future funding (CRE-MSD or WSIB). David Andrews, Patricia Weir and Michael Sonne met with Catherine Brookman (workplace stakeholder) to discuss options.
Key findings
Based on the meeting, it was determined that further information on PSWs and how they could be appropriately assessed in the field was required. Therefore, a literature search related to PSWs was undertaken at the University of Windsor to direct future research.