MANAGE AT WORK: Addressing the Challenge of Chronic Physical Health Conditions in the Workplace

The Work Limitations Questionnaire (WLQ)(Lerner et al., 2003) is a 25-item self-report questionnaire that assesses the degree to which working individuals are experiencing limitations on-the-job due to their health problems and health-related productivity loss. The WLQ asks respondents to rate their level of difficulty or ability to perform specific job demands. Items are grouped into 4 scales: (1) time management; (2) physical demands; (3) mental-interpersonal demands; and (4) output demands.

The Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) (Demourati et al., 2001) is a 17-item self-report questionnaire that was designed to measure the degree to which employees have a sense of energetic and effective connection with their work activities (energy involvement) and see themselves as able to deal with the demands of their job (professional efficacy). Respondents rate their level of agreement with stated feelings about work on a 7-point likert scale from "never" to "always". Work engagement has been defined as a positive, fulfilling, work-related state of mind that is characterized by vigor, dedication, and absorption.

The Occupational Fatigue Exhaustion Recovery Scale (OFER) (Winwood et al., 2005) is a 20-item self-report questionnaire that assesses the degree to which job activities produce acute fatigue, deplete available energy, and reduce the ability to engage in pleasurable activities outside of work. Respondents rate their level of agreement on a 7-point likert scale from "completely disagree" to "completely agree".

A 4-item scale developed by Kelloway and colleagues (1999) will be used to assess turnover intentions. The four questions are: "I am thinking about leaving this organization", "I am planning to look for a new job", "I intend to ask people about new job opportunities", and "I don't plan to be in this organization much longer". Each item is rated on a 5-point likert scale from "strongly disagree" to "strongly agree".

A 2-item scale developed from prior work by the researchers will be used to assess job satisfaction. The two questions are: "I like working for this company and expect to be here for another year or more" and "I would recommend this company to others".

A unique self-efficacy measure was developed for the project to be closely aligned with the content of the workshop program. Ten items were adapted from the Pain Self-efficacy Questionnaire (Nicholas, 2007) and ten items were taken from the Return-to-work Self Efficacy (RTWSE-19) scale (Shaw et al., 2011). The goal of the new measure is to assess worker confidence with respect to symptom management, job modification, communication, emotional coping, and obtaining needed support and assistance.

The Standard Form-36 (SF-36) (Ware et al., 1992) will be used to assess general health status. This is the most well-validated and frequently used measure of generic health status in health research. The SF-36 provides a single metric of health function regardless of diagnostic categories or illness classifications.

Participants will be asked to recall the number of days in the past 6 months that they were absent from work because of their health. Self-report has been shown to be a viable and reasonably accurate method for assessing sickness absence days in studies of employee health (Short et al., 2009).

Participants will be asked to recall the number and type of health care visits over the past 6 months using a standardized set of reporting options and prompts. Self-report has been shown to be a viable and reasonably accurate method for assessing health care utilization rates in studies of employee health (Short et al., 2009) and among individuals with chronic medical conditions (Lubeck & Hubert, 2005).