Evaluation of occupational therapy workshops to prevent work-related injuries or illnesses among vocational students

ABSTRACT

The few studies aiming to evaluate prevention interventions provided by occupational therapists in health at work were conducted in work settings. However, to intervene in primary prevention, developing occupational therapy interventions with students learning a trade is relevant. The objective is to evaluate workshops designed and set up by occupational therapists on vocational students’ preventive behavior at work. A systematic approach was used to design and set up the prevention workshops for students of cooking and hairstyling programs. Evaluation focused on three variables: (1) satisfaction with workshops, (2) apprenticeship, and (3) behavior observed. Results were positive on the three variables. Also, students who took part in the workshops showed near 15% (p < 0.05) more preventive behavior than those who received the traditional prevention training only. This study supports the effective role of occupational therapists to promote vocational students’ preventive behavior at work. The promising results open the door to the arrival of occupational therapists in vocational training centers.

KEYWORDS:

• Occupational health and safety
• health at work
• primary prevention
• vocational students

Acknowledgment

The authors thank all the participants of the study as well as the members of the Laboratoire de recherche en ergologie de l’Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières for the review of this manuscript.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

Funding

Fonds de Recherche du Québec-Société et Culture [doctoral scholarship to first author, grant # 197569], Institut de Recherche Robert-Sauvé en, Santé et en Sécurité du Travail [doctoral scholarship to first author], and Fondation canadienne d’ergothérapie [doctoral scholarship to first author].

Ethics

Participants took part freely and voluntarily in the study; no financial incentive was offered. This project received the approval of the Research Ethics Committee with humans of the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (CER-14-208-07.02).

Additional information

Funding

Fonds de Recherche du Québec-Société et Culture [doctoral scholarship to first author, grant # 197569], Institut de Recherche Robert-Sauvé en, Santé et en Sécurité du Travail [doctoral scholarship to first author], and Fondation canadienne d’ergothérapie [doctoral scholarship to first author].