The Science and Politics of Work Disability Prevention

The rising cost of illness and disability benefits are one of today’s biggest social and labour market challenges. The promise of activation-oriented work disability policies was labour market engagement for all people, regardless of illness, injury or impairment. However, the reality has been more complex.

The Science and Politics of Work Disability Policy addresses social and political economic contexts driving state work disability reform in 13 countries. In this first attempt to explain the history and future of work disability policy, this book asks new questions about work disability policy design, focus, and effects. It details how work disability policies have evolved with jurisdictions, why these take their current shape, and where they are heading. The well positioned authors draw on their insider knowledge and expertise in law, medicine, and social science to provide detailed case studies of their jurisdictions.

This pathbreaking volume will be of interest to social security system policy makers, scholars, and students in the health and social sciences.

Ellen MacEachen, PhD, is Associate Professor and Associate Director of the Research Graduate Program with the School of Public Health and Health Systems at the University of Waterloo. She is cofounder of the Centre for Research on Work Disability Policy, an associate editor with the Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, former president of the Canadian Association for Research on Work and Health, and was a leader and mentor in the CIHR-funded Work Disability Prevention Strategic Training Programme led by Dr. Patrick Loisel between 2002 and 2015. Her research examines the design and performance of work and health systems to identify how they can be improved and adapted to economic, social, and technological environments of the global economy. She is particularly interested in international work disability policy, precarious employment, and digitalized work.