Staff members at the University of Montreal are doing relatively well compared to those in other similar work environments, but certain indicators remain worrying, notably symptoms of psychological distress and professional burnout.
This is indicated by the results of the fifth and final phase of the Longitudinal Study of the Observatory on Health and Well-being at Work (ELOSMET), presented on November 27 during a virtual meeting at to which all University staff were invited.
ELOSMET is a large-scale study in which more than 12,600 people in 117 client workplaces of TELUS Health (formerly LifeWorks Wellness Solutions and Morneau Shepell) and Blue Cross insurer Medavie have taken part over the past five years. years.
Data collected over five years at UdeM
Alain Marchand
Credit: Amélie Philibert, University of Montreal
Supported by the Human Resources Department, the portion of ELOSMET that concerns UdeM aims to paint a picture of the mental health and physical health of its employees and to highlight the factors at work and at home. outside of work that influence their state of health.
For the fifth cycle of the study, the data for which was collected in 2023, more than 1,050 UdeM staff members responded to the questionnaire sent to them.
Here are the main results.
Mental health
- Symptoms of psychological distress remained the same in 2023 compared to the previous year, at 36.3% and 36.6% respectively. This is a rate similar to the first cycle, achieved in 2019 (before the pandemic), i.e. 39.5%. Remember that, during the health crisis, nearly 41% of UdeM respondents claimed to feel symptoms of psychological distress.
- Professional burnout affected 23.3% of staff in 2023, a slight decrease compared to 2019 (25%), but an increase compared to 2022 (21.9%).
- With a rate of 21%, the use of psychotropic medications in 2023 has decreased considerably compared to the previous year, when 25.1% of people responded that they had used them.
“Overall, the situation at UdeM is better than in other workplaces that participated in ELOSMET,” underlines Alain Marchand, full professor at the School of Industrial Relations. In terms of professional burnout, University staff members display on average 4.6% fewer symptoms of professional burnout, while the results are similar with regard to the use of medications and symptoms of psychological distress, which nevertheless remains worrying.”
Physical health
Among the UdeM respondents who took part in the study:
- 27.1% said they would suffer from obesity in 2023, an increasing trend compared to 2019, when this proportion was 23.3%;
- 17.5% reported cardiovascular problems in 2023, compared to 15.9% in the first study cycle;
- 58.4% reported upper limb musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in 2019, compared to 57.1% in 2019;
- 46.1% reported back MSDs in 2023, a stable rate compared to 2019 (45.3%).
“These results are also comparable to those collected from other workplaces, with the exception of obesity, which affected 7.3% fewer people at UdeM than in other organizations,” says the one who is scientific director. from the Robert-Sauvé Research Institute in Occupational Health and Safety.
Workplace risk and protective factors
The ELOSMET also made it possible to measure the risk and protection factors of the workplace on people’s health, according to a scale which allows these factors to be considered as being:
- low if the average is between 0 and 33,
- medium if it is 34 to 66,
- high if it is above 67.
Among the protective factors, the use of skills (74.1) and decision-making authority (70.4) are the elements most often reported, on average, by UdeM staff members in the three cycles of the study. These factors were 76.2 and 71.7 respectively in 2019, which shows a slight deterioration in this area.
Where UdeM stands out is support between colleagues, which stood at 77.6 in 2023, a level similar to 2019 (76.5), as well as support from the supervisor, which increased from 67.8 in the first cycle of the study to 73.5 last year.
The same is true of gratification factors: UdeM staff members say they enjoy good recognition (76.6 in 2023 compared to 73.1 five years earlier) and job security (75 .9 compared to 73.7). In terms of career prospects, the scale indicates an average level of 50.8, a slight drop from 52.5 in 2019.
The main risk factor stated relates to mental workload demands, which was 51.5 in 2023, a significant decrease compared to 2019, when this level was 53.8.
Aggressive behavior (9.3 last year compared to 13.4 in 2019) and harassment (1.4 compared to 2.2) are also down.
External situation at work and personal conditions
Furthermore, caregiver status was the lot of 23.4% of people who participated in ELOSMET in 2023, a proportion almost identical to 2019 (23.8%).
Work-family balance stood at 26 on the risk factor scale, a slight increase from 24.9 five years earlier. On the other hand, the level of work-family conflicts was 41.1 in 2023, a significantly lower average than in 2019 with 43.4.
In terms of lifestyle habits, ELOSMET noted an increase in risky alcohol consumption last year compared to 2019 (14.9% compared to 13.5%) and this is the same for the use of cannabis (16.1% compared to 13.9%). Tobacco use decreased slightly (5.1% compared to 5.6%), while physical activity saw a significant jump (61% compared to 54.9%).
A balance sheet that “compares favorably”
If certain aspects of health and well-being at work need to be monitored – particularly with regard to psychological distress, professional burnout and certain musculoskeletal disorders – “the University of Montreal presents overall a fairly favorable assessment in terms of the working conditions assessed and compares favorably to other ELOSMET workplaces,” concludes Alain Marchand.
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