Examining the macroergonomics and safety factors among teleworkers: development of a conceptual model

With the rising number of teleworkers who are working in non-traditional work locations, health and safety issues are even more critical. While telework offers attractive alternatives to traditional work locations, it is not without challenges for employers and workers. A macroergonomics approach or work system design for telework programs is proposed to address these new challenges. This approach explains the impact of organizational, psychosocial and workplace risk factors on teleworker's health and safety. A process for managing the health and safety of teleworkers is presented along with preventive strategies to provide an injury-free working environment.     

ICT,young people and social work: distances and opportunities

ABSTRACT

The relationship between social work and Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) is an awkward one in Spanish tradition, particularly from social work perspective due to a certain lack of institutional and professional competence in terms of understanding the capabilities of ICTs. Young people use ICTs to connect to each other and express themselves, however. ICTs represent a means—increasingly the main one—for young people to build and communicate their own identities and understand reality. As with other social sciences, social work suffers from a difficult relationship with young people. Youth is often studied differently and sometimes perceived as a problem that ends when adulthood is reached. In this context, the relationship among ICTs, social work and young people is also a difficult one. But this problem may also be a solution. By adopting a critical ICT approach, social work can create innovative initiatives and frameworks to improve communication between social work practitioners and teachers as with young people and students. Imagination and empathy will clearly be key to achieving this, in addition to deeper involvement in the use of new software and applications that can offer enhanced communication and build bridges between social workers and young people.     

Social Work Strategies and Tactics in the Workplace

Abstract

Those social workers who offer employment services can frame job development and placement as a process of workplace socialization in which they facilitate the inclusion of people with disabilities in mainstream work settings. This paper examines the construct of workplace socialization and offers five specific strategies and related tactics for its facilitation in the context of social work practice in disability and rehabilitation.     

Social work field education: believing in supervisors who are living with disabilities

Much of what is written by non-disabled authors about living with disabilities does not mirror people’s experiences or opportunities. Literature is often written about people’s abilities (or disabilities) rather than by or with people. Discourse about supervision of social work students can risk assuming that supervisors are people who do not identify as living with disabilities. This research is a co-operative inquiry into the experience of being an Australian social work student supervisor who is living with disabilities. The article extends the literature about being a social work field educator to include ability, and values the practice wisdom of experienced social workers including a current student supervisor who is living with a disability.     

POWER, STATUS, AND ABUSE AT WORK: General and Sexual Harassment Compared

Workplace harassment can be devastating for employees and damaging for organizations. In this article, we expand the literature by identifying common and distinct processes related to general workplace harassment and workplace sexual harassment . Using both structural equation modeling and in-depth case immersion, we analyze content-coded data from the full population of workplace ethnographies—ethnographies that provide in-depth information on the nature and causes of both general and sexual harassment that would otherwise be difficult to gather. Importantly, both forms of harassment emerge in settings characterized by physically demanding work and minority work groups. In such contexts, both general and sexual harassment enforce formal and informal status hierarchies and social exclusion. Grievance mechanisms and "team models" of workplace organization reduce sexual harassment but have no effect on general harassment. We conclude with a discussion of theoretical, legal, and policy implications for identifying and remedying harassment as a widespread and devastating form of inequality and social exclusion in organizations.     

Building Social Inclusion for Rural Older People Using Information and Communication Technologies: Perspectives of Rural Practitioners

Abstract

The literature identifies rural, older people as at risk of social exclusion, as a result of rural disadvantage. In this context, improved access to information and communication technologies (ICTs) has potential to build social inclusion, yet current evidence shows that rural, older people are the lowest current users of technology. This paper draws on the practice and local knowledge of rural practitioners from one Victorian region in order to explore: (a) the practice issues associated with ICT use among rural, older people; and (b) the characteristics of effective practice models in the rural, social work context. An analysis of findings highlights the need to respond to the diverse skills, needs, and learning styles of older people, to demonstrate the benefits of ICTs, involve users, and build confidence. Major barriers include poor ICT usage by many rural agencies and low practitioner capacity, as well as access and resources.     

Examining More Inclusive Approaches to Social Work,Physical Disability,and Sexuality

People with disabilities often experience the idea that those with disabilities are not, or should not be, sexual beings. This article examines how people with physical disabilities define sexual activity, their levels of sexual satisfaction, group differences in how people define different acts as sexual activities, and the differences in levels of sexual satisfaction. Additionally, this study (N?=?450) looks at the correlations between levels of independence in multiple contexts. Levels of independence are also assessed in relationship to severity of disability and sexual satisfaction. Implications for social work and social service practice, education, and policy are discussed.     

Social enterprises as enabling workplaces for people with psychiatric disabilities

In recent years, western governments influenced by neoliberalism have emphasized paid work as a key route to social inclusion and community participation for people with psychiatric disabilities. Although paid work can offer many rewards, access to mainstream employment for people with psychiatric disabilities is difficult as they continue to encounter discrimination and a lack of workplace accommodation. One response to these challenges has been the creation of social enterprises as ‘alternative spaces’ of employment for people with psychiatric disabilities. On the basis of interviews with key informants from 21 different social enterprises across Ontario, Canada, this paper critically analyzes the strategies used by organizations to create jobs that are both accommodating for people, but also conducive to the ongoing success of the business.     

Assistive technology and employment: experiences of Californians with disabilities

For people with disabilities, work remains the best route to independence and enacting one's own choices. Assistive technology (AT) is often crucial in removing barriers to employment, and in enabling workers with disabilities to work more productively. A participatory action research project known as Community Research for Assistive Technology surveyed people with disabilities using Independent Living Centers throughout California, in part to identify barriers to employment and study use of job-related AT to overcome such barriers. Across disability groups, disability itself was cited as the primary barrier to employment, with potential loss of benefits and lack of education cited as secondary barriers. A majority of working respondents reported using assistive technology (such as adapted telephones, wheelchairs, magnifiers, and adapted computer equipment) or services to perform job functions. The vast majority of those using job-related AT reported substantial benefits to their productivity and self-esteem. Employees' requests for AT as a workplace accommodation were granted more often than not, but many other employees had to pay for their own workplace AT.     

‘I'm Home for the Kids’: Contradictory Implications for Work–Life Balance of Teleworking Mothers

This study explores the experience of time flexibility and its relationship to work–life balance among married female teleworkers with school‐aged children. Drawing from a larger study of teleworkers from a Canadian financial corporation, 18 mothers employed in professional positions discussed work, leisure and their perceptions of work–life balance in in‐depth interviews. Telework was viewed positively because flexible scheduling facilitated optimal time management. A key factor was the pervasiveness of caregiving, which could result in ongoing tensions and contradictions between the ethic of care and their employment responsibilities. The ideology of ‘intensive mothering’ meant that work schedules were closely tied to the rhythms of children's school and leisure activities. The different temporal demands of motherhood and employment resulted in little opportunity for personal leisure. Time ‘saved’ from not having to commute to an office was reallocated to caregiving, housework or paid employment rather than to time for their self. The women also experienced a traditional gendered division of household labour and viewed telework as a helpful tool for combining their dual roles. Time flexibility enhanced their sense of balancing work and life and their perceived quality of life. At the same time, they did not question whether having the primary responsibility for caregiving while engaged in paid employment at home was fair or whether it was a form of exploitation.     

Putting technology to work: Users' perspective on integrating assistive technology into the workplace

This qualitative study examined the experiences of people with disabilities who use assistive technology in open employment. This study aims to describe and understand the factors the participants perceived as important in integrating technology into the workplace, as well as the barriers encountered in the process. Fifteen people with a range of acquired and congenital disabilities as well as their employers (8) or co-workers (4) were interviewed. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed. Nud*ist Version 4(R) was used for data management. Emergent themes related to the integration of assistive technology were software compatibility, Information Technology (IT) and product support, and the interaction between technology and the work environment. Participants also reported on the impact of technology on their performance and comfort at work, as well as dealing with people and processes in the workplace. By identifying the issues and support strategies for technology users in the workplace, appropriate measures can be implemented to ensure that the spirit of disability discrimination legislation is realized.     

e-Social work in practice: a case study

ABSTRACT

This paper presents a theoretical reflection on e-social work by considering a case study: an intervention programme with vulnerable people, included in the services catalogue of a non-governmental organization (NGO), Zaragoza Red Cross Assembly. This programme cares for older people with a home assistance system mediated by information and communication technologies (ICTs). The digital convergence of the Spanish Red Cross and the digitalization of internal processes were accelerated by the use of ICTs as a tool in the aftermath of the 2008 crisis: first, to manage bureaucratic matters; second, to coordinate professionals and third, to interact with users. The text is divided into five sections including an introduction and final remarks. The first section describes the intervention programme and its evolution from a traditional social work vision to an e-social work perspective. The second section describes and analyses the intervention programme and the incorporation of ICTs in this NGO, over more than two decades. The third section describes professional contributions to the implementation and adaptation of social work to new social and technological circumstances and users’ requirements based on these intervention experiences.     

Supporting the well-being of people with mobility disabilities through social work practice

The purpose of this insight generating study was to explore the viewpoints of people with mobility disabilities (PWMD) about ways for social workers to promote their well-being through social work practice. A qualitative participant action style methodology encouraged PWMDto voice their concerns and recommendations. Eighteen PWMD were interviewed, including nine consumers and nine social workers. Participants indicated from their experiences that social workers commonly are not sufficiently cognizant of the personal goals, perspectives, and health potentials of PWMD. Overall, they suggested that the social work practice approach for people with disabilities should become more holistic and proactive. Their recommendations are consistent with current ideas about best practice in the social work and disabilities literature and they reinforce the importance of making these ideas more widely practiced.     

Partnering with the 21st century workplace: leveraging workplace ecology

The 'accessible' job market of the 1990's has given way to a challenging job market in a climate of economic uncertainty in the early Twenty-First Century. For vocational rehabilitation professionals this change requires the strategic use of workplace supports to increase the value and sustainability of work performed by people with disabilities in competitive jobs. An analytical framework for leveraging the natural supports of the workplace is provided by the workplace ecology as a bounded environment in which relationships between workers and supervisors promote learning and enhanced performance. The dynamics of the workplace ecology are explored with particular reference to workers with disabilities receiving supported employment services. Recommendations are made for leveraging the workplace ecology to the benefit of the supported worker. Implications for supported employment services in the new millennium are discussed.     

Schizophrenia,Community Integration,and Recovery

Abstract

Rooted in deinstitutionalization policy, the community inclusion required by the Olmstead case, and the grass roots recovery movement, community integration for those who have diagnoses of serious mental illnesses has become an increasingly important policy goal. The purpose of this project was to examine empirical evidence describing experiences with social or community integration for people with psychiatric disabilities, with a particular interest in the schizophrenias. Studies chosen for review all involved direct survey or interview data from people with psychiatric disabilities and examined subjective experiences with social relationships or linked social participation with clinical, functional, or quality of life outcomes. Experiences involving the dynamics of social stigma, the achievement of personal agency, and innovative pathways to satisfying social inclusion are core themes found that are highly relevant for practitioners. Social work, with its ecological perspective, is well suited to address the complexities of conflicting interests and objectives that have arisen in mental health care in the pursuit of community integration. Suggestions for fruitful responses are presented.     

Information and Communication Technologies and the Opportunities of Disabled Persons in the Swedish Labour Market

This article attempts to outline the prospects of disabled persons to gain and retain employment within the Information Society by presenting and discussing the results of a labour market policy programme in Sweden based on information technology. The effects of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for unemployed and employed persons with disabilities can be assessed on the micro, as well as on the macro levels. Technological optimism has given rise to expectations about the great potential of ICTs in creating employment opportunities for disabled persons. Technological optimism, however, derives from a deterministic point of view, i.e. ICTs are regarded as an independent variable. This article suggests that ICTs must be regarded as a variable dependent by the economic, social and cultural order. Its effects on disabled persons employment opportunities are not independent by the power relations at a given time.     

Rethinking Post-Fordism: The Meaning of Workplace Flexibility

Social scientists increasingly claim that work structures based on the mass production or "Fordist" paradigm have grown obsolete, giving way to a more flexible, "post-Fordist" structure of work. These claims have been much disputed, however, giving rise to a sharply polarized debate over the outcome of workplace restructuring. I seek to reorient the debate by subjecting the post-Fordist approach to theoretical and empirical critique. Several theoretical weaknesses internal to the post-Fordist approach are identified, including its uncertain handling of "power" and "efficiency" as factors that shape work organizations; its failure to acknowledge multiple responses to the crisis of Fordism, several of which seem at odds with the post-Fordist paradigm; and its tendency to neglect the resurgence of economic dualism and disparity within organizations and industries. Review of the empirical literature suggests that, despite scattered support for the post-Fordist approach, important anomalies exist (such as the growing authority of "mental" over manual labor) that post-Fordism seems powerless to explain. In spite of its ample contributions, post-Fordist theory provides a seriously distorted guide to the nature of workplace change in the United States. Two alternative perspectives toward the restructuring of work organizations are sketched—neoinstitutionalist and "flexible accumulation" models—which seem likely to inspire more fruitful lines of research on the disparate patterns currently unfolding within American work organizations.     

Feelin' groovy♪: appropriating time in home‐based telework

In this paper we present some findings from an empirical study into teleworking that challenge the received wisdom that principles of efficiency and speed determine the organisation of public and private lives. Instead, we make a case that emerging forms of work organisation such as telework entail opportunities for some individuals to rethink the relationship between life and work and to engage in questions of ‘how to live one's life’. Drawing on our research study, which combined participant observation with interview conversations with 25 teleworkers and their families, we argue that teleworking, the epitome of flexibility and instantaneousness, can, rather than always contributing to the acceleration of life, provide potential for regeneration, re‐evaluation and slowing down.     

A framework for providing telecommuting as a reasonable accommodation: some considerations on a comparative case study

Telecommuting, whether full time, part time, or over short periods when the need arises, can be an important accommodation for employees with disabilities. Indeed, telecommuting may be the only form of accommodation that offers employees whose disabilities fluctuate a means to stay consistently and gainfully employed. This article describes one employer's experience in considering a request for telecommuting as a reasonable accommodation for a particular employee. Drawing on real-life examples, both positive and negative, this article provides a win/win framework for decision-making that can help employers evaluate the use of telecommuting as a possible accommodation and facilitates open and ongoing communication between employer and employee.