Understanding and improving the health of workers in the new economy: A call for a participatory dialogue-based approach to work-health research

Abstract

Changes in the nature and experience of work, and the emergence of new forms of injuries and illnesses, call into question the prevailing scientist-led, positivist approach to work and health research. This paper critiques this approach on epistemological, methodological and ethical grounds, arguing that it is not capable of understanding and improving workers’ health in today's global economy. The authors call for a more participatory approach to research to better understand the complex linkages between work and health, and to better bring about improvement to the health of workplaces.