Design for Care Findings
Explore our past events and research findings for designing better work for the Healthcare and Social Assistance (H&SA) industry
RESEARCH REPORT 2024
Changing work design to improve mental health in the Healthcare and Social Assistance industry
This report provides a snapshot of the ongoing Design for Care research project. It outlines three participative work redesign interventions undertaken in collaboration with partner organisations in the Healthcare and Social Assistance (H&SA) industry. Finally, it summarises three key learnings for successful work redesign.
State of Affairs 4: SMARTer work design to prevent psychological injury’ breakfast
Tuesday 5 November 2024 | The University of Sydney Business School - CBD Campus
Having a healthy and thriving workforce is critical in the Healthcare and Social Assistance (H&SA) area – aged care workers, disability workers, and other professionals in this sector carry out some of the most important work in our society. To begin to address this challenge, we need a clear and detailed picture of work-related mental health claims and risk factors for psychological injury within this industry.
Event recording
Event photo highlights
State of Affairs 3: Changing work design to improve mental health in the healthcare and social assistance industry
Wednesday 3 April 2024 | The University of Sydney Business School - CBD Campus
The Design for Care research team recently held its 3rd State of Affairs Breakfast, highlighting key insights and success stories from 30 pilot work design interventions across five NSW Health and Social Assistance organisations.
The event featured opening remarks from NSW Minister Sophie Cotsis, reaffirming government support for the groundbreaking research, followed by a keynote from Professors Anya Johnson and Helena Nguyen, and a panel sharing firsthand experiences of implementing SMARTer work practices.
Event recording
State of Affairs 2: How work design shapes mental health in the Healthcare & Social Assistance industry breakfast
Wednesday 4 July 2023 | The University of Sydney Business School - CBD Campus
Over a nine-year period, the NSW H&SA sector lost more than 170,000 working weeks to psychological injury. In response, the Design for Care team has spent the past 18 months partnering with aged care, disability care and out of home care organisations to understand what’s driving these challenges — and how to design work differently to address them. Professor Parker outlined practical steps organisations can take to reduce risks and support employee wellbeing through SMART work design.
The session concluded with a panel discussion featuring leaders from participating organisations who and reflected on their experience implementing SMARTer work practices to support their teams.
RESEARCH REPORT (2023)
How work design shapes mental health in the Healthcare and Social Assistance industry
Having a healthy and thriving workforce is critical in the Healthcare and Social Assistance (H&SA) area – aged care workers, disability workers, and other professionals in this sector carry out some of the most important work in our society. To begin to address this challenge, we need a clear and detailed picture of work-related mental health claims and risk factors for psychological injury within this industry.
Event recording
State of Affairs: State of psychological injury in the NSW Healthcare and Social Assistance industry
Tuesday 15 November 2022 | The University of Sydney Business School - CBD Campus
The Healthy Working Lives Research Group at Monash University (part of Design for Care) conducted a comprehensive analysis of NSW workers compensation claims data from 2010/11 to 2020/21, examining outcomes of psychological injury among HSA industry workers compared to workers in other industries. The findings are outlined in the full report and contribute new knowledge that can support efforts to prevent injuries from occurring and minimise their consequences when they do occur.
RESEARCH REPORTS (2022)
Risk factors associated with psychological injury among Healthcare and Social Assistance workers in non-hospital settings: Systematic scoping review
This report explores the impact between work design and psychological health among workers in the healthcare and social assistance industry, in non-hospital settings. As many workers within the healthcare and social assistance (HSA) industry may be exposed to workplace hazards that can affect their psychological health. While many studies have described the prevalence and nature of psychological injury experienced by HSA workers, few have examined the determinants of these injuries.
An analysis of NSW workers compensation claims, to examine the frequency, incidence, patterns and outcomes of psychological injury among distinct occupational groups in the HSA industry
This report compares the frequency, incidence, nature, and duration of psychological injury workers’ compensation claims between two groups: workers in the Health and Social Assistance (HSA) industry and all other workers, aiming to identify the risk factors contributing to claims in each group.
