Development of the workplace inclusion questionnaire (WIQ).

Vigdis Sveinsdottir,Aage Indahl,Jon Opsahl,Tonje Fyhn,Tone Langjordet Johnsen,Silje Endresen Reme,Hege Randi Eriksen,Torill Helene Tveito

doi:10.1177/1403494821990241

Abstract

Aims:To develop a questionnaire to examine attitudes among employees and managers to include people with various health problems into their work group, and to test the questionnaire in one relevant population within the labour market.Methods:A questionnaire was developed through a process involving discussions in a scientific forum and pilot testing with group discussions. The final questionnaire, which was tested in a survey study of managers and employees in 33 Norwegian kindergartens (N=485), contained 10 short case stories followed by questions concerning workplace inclusion. The case stories described individuals with musculoskeletal and mental disorders, as well as individuals with potentially stigmatising behavioural history and lifestyle, and control cases. Risk ratios with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to compare the case stories. Cases with high risk ratios had an increased risk of not being included compared to a control case.Results:Attitudes for workplace inclusion varied between the different case stories. Cases portraying mental illness had the highest risk ratios, indicating that employees and managers are less likely to include people with mental illness than people with musculoskeletal illness. Furthermore, unspecific or chronic illness had higher risk ratios than specific and acute illness. The most important barriers also varied between case stories.Conclusions:The workplace inclusion questionnaire fulfills the need for a quantitative measure of attitudes to include individuals with various health problems into the workplace. Comparison of risk ratios showed clear differences between case stories, indicating that the workplace inclusion questionnaire is a valuable tool to measure the variance in workplace inclusion.

Highlights

A large part of the potential workforce is excluded from working life for different reasons
We developed 10 short case stories, describing people with various musculoskeletal, mental and behavioural problems which represent the major reasons for sick leave and disability in Norway [2], as well as different social groups, without health problems, but with specific behavioural or demographic characteristics.The gender of the cases was randomly selected, and included five men and five women
The three cases that were rated most favourably all represent different social groups in which illness or current health problems are not reported, including the control cases. Both cases representing musculoskeletal illness/injury were rated relatively high, while the lowest rated cases involved mental illnesses. These results are in concordance with previous literature on stigma towards workers with mental illness [27], and especially with regard to severe mental illness [12].The findings indicate a need for efforts targeting stigma towards employees with mental illness in the Norwegian kindergarten setting, and underline the importance of interventions aiming to improve communication and increase acceptance of co-workers facing these health problems

Summary

Introduction

A large part of the potential workforce is excluded from working life for different reasons. In Norway, 674,000 labour years were lost due to health problems or unemployment in 2018, corresponding to 18.9% of the working-age population [1]. The main reasons for sick leave and disability are related to unspecific musculoskeletal complaints such as low back pain and common mental disorders such as anxiety and depression [2]. Sick leave in Norway is highest in the health and social care sector, especially among employees in nursing homes and kindergartens [3]. The IA-agreement focuses on industries and sectors with a large need and potential for sick leave reduction and preventive work environment efforts

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion