Mental Health at Work: Detection before Treatment
September 16, 2009
The first symposium of the Research Team on Work and Mental Health
"Over the past few years, problems of mental health at work have become more and more preoccupying. They represent one of the significant causes of absenteeism, and hence result in human and financial costs for employees as well as for businesses and for society as a whole.” This is how Alain Marchand, Associate Professor at the École de relations industrielles de l'Université de Montréal and coordinator of the Research Team on Work and Mental Health (RTWMH), broaches the issue of mental health at work on the eve of the first symposium “Mental Health at Work: a True Picture of the Situation”, which will be held at the Louis-H. Lafontaine Hospital on Friday, September 18. More than 150 people, representing both the research and business communities, will participate in this event.
Participants will be able to learn more about the RTWMH’s research project, the largest on the subject in Canada, aimed at the development of new tools for the early detection of mental health problems at work, including psychological distress, burnout and depression. The researchers also hope to assess the efficacy of human resource management practices intended to reduce workers’ mental health problems. These new tools, along with the interventions developed, will present advantages for employees who will benefit from earlier detection and for businesses that will implement better prevention of mental health problems in the workplace.
“We want to work prior to prevention, to anticipate burnout even before the first symptoms are felt,” explains Sonia Lupien, Director of the Centre for Studies on Human Stress of the Louis-H. Lafontaine Hospital and a member of the RTWMH. “This is why it is essential to join forces with partners in the university and business networks, including the École de relations industrielles de l'Université de Montréal and Standard Life Assurance Company.”
Research Team on Work and Mental Health (RTWMH)
The RTWMH brings together researchers from the Université de Montréal, Bishops University and Université Laval. It is supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec (FRSQ), the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and the Fonds de recherche sur la société et la culture (FRSC). Its work focuses on two research areas: the social epidemiology of problems of psychological distress, alcohol abuse and the consumption of psychotropic drugs in the workforce, as well as prevention and inverventions aimed at resolving problems of mental health at work.
www.ertsm.umontreal.ca
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