Delving into the realm of occupational health can significantly enhance your practice and patient outcomes. Occupational health is changing rapidly with the technological and information revolutions.

As a former post-registration student and practice educator myself I know how hard it is to identify a dissertation topic. I’ve recently reviewed the literature for gaps in OH knowledge. This has highlighted critical areas within occupational health that warrant further exploration, which are summarised below by topic.

By researching these areas, you can gain valuable insights into the underlying causes and preventive measures, ultimately contributing to safer and healthier work environments. I encourage you to explore these findings to deepen your understanding and make a meaningful impact in your field.

Cancer and return to work

To gather compelling evidence on factors that influence Return to Work (RTW) in cancer survivors due to variable quality and mixed methodologies of studies (Forbes, 2023).

Climate change and the workplace

To confirm if a link exists between hazards that may be affected by changes to the physical environment (Lan, 2022). Specific areas for identified for research include the following exposures in facilities management and the impact of climate change:

• Bioaerosols
• Cleaning agents and disinfectants
• Legionella
• Pesticides
• Soil-borne diseases
• UV light

Cyber-security and data protection

How organisations can learn from incidents and reduce risks to (working) society (Patterson, 2023). Inclusion criteria:

• Competing priorities of security management
• Incident response (teams)
• Investment in learning

Digital workplaces

Understanding of negative psychological effects that employees may experience when working digitally (Marsh, 2022). Inclusion criteria:

• Adverse effects of digital workplaces on job outcomes including stress and strain
• Anxiety mediation between the technology and negative effects
• Contributing elements in the digital workplace
• Emotional attachment to technology
• Full range of ways that overload may manifest, e.g. in relation feature or application proliferation etc.
• Impact of employee health monitoring
• Information overload – how and for whom?
• Interaction of the various effects
• Levers by which anxieties may be reduced
• Sequential progression from one effect, e.g. addiction to another, e.g. stress

Eating habits at work

Effectiveness of any single intervention type to formulate sound guidelines for efficacious nutrition interventions in occupational settings (Hyży, 2023). Inclusion criteria:

• Intervention design
• Workplace setting
• Target group characteristics

Ergonomics and the use of virtual reality

How virtual reality (VR) can support the analysis of ergonomics (da Silva, 2020). Specific areas for research include:

• Force applied by the operator in assembling parts
• Assessment of ergonomic risks already in the product development stage

Health outcomes in a thermo-dynamic environment

The relationships between dynamic temperature, temporal effects and health outcomes (Reitmayer, 2023). Six areas requiring investigation were identified:

• Interaction of stress and the reaction of the thermoregulatory system following ramp (increasing) temperature conditions
• Interrelationship of the human circadian rhythm under different dynamic temperature patterns
• Potential positive and/or negative health effects of temperature variations
• Stress responses, BMI, cognitive performance, and immunity reactions to evaluate health impact(s)

Inclusion parameters:

• Measurement of physiological parameters
• Dynamic temperature pattern
• Time dependence Vector-borne diseases

Health promotion in the context of environmental issues and organisational frameworks

Quantitative measurement of workplace health promotion and management. Correlations between organisational framework conditions and health-related outcomes as a baseline and follow-up (Bleier, 2022). Specific areas of research include workplace violence.

Inclusion criteria:

• Employee satisfaction surveys
• Health promotion factors and barriers
• Health status
• Subjective social capital
• Workability

Migrant workers and the influence of culture

Promotion of culturally sensitive workplaces (Balante, 2021). Inclusion criteria:

• Culturally relevant interventions
• Ethnic groups of professionals
• Interventions that foster social integration
• Strategies to reduce bullying and discrimination
• Understanding of nuances because of cross-cultural professional practice

Telemedicine (mental health)

Paired study to identify patient sub-groups that benefit more from televideo versus in-person assessment by using direct comparison of acceptability, efficacy and cost-effectiveness (Guaiana, 2021).

Vocational rehabilitation and ex-offenders

The relationship between occupational therapy (OT), forensic psychiatry and vocational rehabilitation (Muñoz, 2020). Inclusion criteria:

• Assessment causal attribution
• Programme planning
• Skills development interventions

Young workers living in and leaving care: Impact of OH engagement

The impact of occupational interventions and support on the longer-term health outcomes of care-experienced young adults’ when transitioning out of their care placement to independent living due to weak methodological designs, qualitative methods and/or limited sample sizes (Blair, 2024). Inclusion criteria:

• Comparison with validated needs assessment data
• Quantitative measures of the effectiveness of interventions

Bibliography and references

Balante, J., van den Broek, D. and White, K., 2021. How does culture influence work experience in a foreign country? An umbrella review of the cultural challenges faced by internationally educated nurses. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 118, p.103930.

Blair, C., Leonard, R., Linden, M., Teggart, T. and Mooney, S., 2024. Allied health professional support for children and young adults living in and leaving care: A systematic scoping review. Child: Care, Health and Development, 50(1), p.e13140.

Bleier, H., Lützerath, J. and Schaller, A., 2022. Organizational framework conditions for workplace health Management in Different Settings of nursing—a cross-sectional analysis in Germany. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(6), p.3693.

da Silva, A.G., Winkler, I., Gomes, M.M. and Pinto, U.D.M., 2020, November. Ergonomic analysis supported by virtual reality: a systematic literature review. In 2020 22nd Symposium on Virtual and Augmented Reality (SVR) (pp. 463-468). IEEE.

Forbes, D., Lisy, K., Wood, C., White, V., Evans, S., Afshar, N., Ristevski, E., Sharma, A., Changrani, K. and Jefford, M., 2024. Factors beyond diagnosis and treatment that are associated with return to work in Australian cancer survivors—a systematic review. Asia‐Pacific Journal of Clinical Oncology, 20(2), pp.198-209.

Guaiana, G., Mastrangelo, J., Hendrikx, S. and Barbui, C., 2021. A systematic review of the use of telepsychiatry in depression. Community mental health journal, 57, pp.93-100.

Hyży, A., Jaworski, M., Cieślak, I., Gotlib, J. and Panczyk, M., 2023. Improving Eating Habits at the Office: An Umbrella Review of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses on Nutritional Interventions.

Lan, T., Goh, Y.M., Jensen, O. and Asmone, A.S., 2022. The impact of climate change on workplace safety and health hazard in facilities management: An in-depth review. Safety science, 151, p.105745.

Marsh, E., Vallejos, E.P. and Spence, A., 2022. The digital workplace and its dark side: An integrative review. Computers in Human Behavior, 128, p.107118.

Muñoz, J.P., Catalano, A., Wang, Y. and Phillips, G.A., 2020. Justice-Based Occupational Therapy: A Scoping Review. Annals of International Occupational Therapy, 3(4), pp.162-174.

Patterson, C.M., Nurse, J.R. and Franqueira, V.N., 2023. Learning from cyber security incidents: A systematic review and future research agenda. Computers & Security, 132, p.103309.