JUNE: ALEC RODGER MEMORIAL LECTURE 2013

Posted on June 26, 2013 by The Old Grey Fox

Employee Engagement

david-macleodEach year, the Department of Organizational Psychology at Birkbeck University of London, invites a person of standing in organizational psychology to present the Alec Rodger Memorial Lecture. This year it was presented by Professor David Macleod.

David’s topic was: Employee engagement: Putting the person back in organisations. He argued that organizations have been too busy making or meeting the ‘economic imperative’ and have forgotten about the person in the organization and their importance for organizational life.

UnknownDavid has an impressive portfolio of responsibilities. It includes being a Non Executive Director of the Ministry of Justice. He is a visiting Professor of the Cass Business School and a Fellow of the Ashridge Business School. He is also an Associate of the Institute for Government and a Fellow of the Institute of Marketing. He has co-authored a book called The Extra Mile on the theme of how to engage your people to win and is co-author of the MacLeod Report to Government called Engaging for Success. David is Chair of the Government’s Task Force on Employee Engagement.
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MAY: NEW PUBLICATION

Posted on May 15, 2013 by The Old Grey Fox

Psychosocial Risk Assessment

untitledI have just published an article on future developments in psychosocial risk inspection and assessment in the Final Report of the SLIC Inspection Campaign 2012.  The article focuses on six issues which I believe will define the development of this important area. They include: the strength of the evidence base supporting risk assessment, the strategy underpinning psychosocial risk inspection and assessment, our awareness of new and emergent risks, and sustainability.

The article can be cited as:

Cox, T. (2013) Future developments in psychosocial risk assessment. In: SLIC Inspection Campaign 2012 Final Report: Psychosocial Risk Assessment. Stockholm: Swedish Work Environment Authority (see: http://www.av,se/SLIC2012)
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MARCH: WORK FOUNDATION REPORT

Posted on March 24, 2013 by The Old Grey Fox

Returning To Work: Cancer survivors and the Health and Work Assessment and Advisory Service

TWFOn 18th March, The Work Foundation launched its report on the recent development of return to work support services in the UK which looked at the issues that need to be addressed to help people remain in work after a diagnosis of and treatment for cancer. In particular, the Report outlines  recommendations for improving the implementation and effectiveness of the new Health and Work Assessment and Advisory Service (HWAAS). The report was written by Tyna Taskila, Jenny Gulliford and Stephen Bevan. The launch was in partnership with Macmillan Cancer Support.

The Report may be downloaded at: www.theworkfoundation.com/Reports/332/Returning-To-Work
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MARCH: SLIC INSPECTION CAMPAIGN 2012

Posted on March 18, 2013 by The Old Grey Fox

SLIC Inspection Campaign 2012: Psychosocial Risk Assessment

SLICI was invited by the Committee of Senior Labour Inspectors (SLIC) to provide a forward looking scientific commentary at the conclusion of its Final Conference of the 2012 Inspection Campaign on Psychosocial Risks Assessment. The Campaign is supported by the European Commission.

kistaThe Conference was held in the Scandic Victoria Tower Hotel in Kista outside Stockholm. I had previously presented at the opening conference for the Campaign in Luxembourg at the end of 2011. My commentary focused on a possible development agenda for psychosocial risk inspection, management and enforcement which included the continuing need: to strengthen the evidence base to support psychosocial risk management, to develop new inspection and enforcement strategies, to be alert to the emergence of new psychosocial risks and issues, and to consider issues of sustainability. The Final Campaign Report will include my paper setting out this suggested development agenda.
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MARCH: HEALTH AND WELLBEING AT WORK 2013

Posted on February 28, 2013 by The Old Grey Fox

Cancer Survivorship and Working Life

With Dr Sara MacLennan, I presented at this year’s Health and Wellbeing at Work Conference in the NEC Birmingham on Wednesday 6th March (11.10 – 11.50).

health and wellbeing 2013We talked about cancer survivorship and working life in a session on Managing Employees with Cancer. The presentation was based on our narrative review of the evidence supporting the development of our accommodation – adaptation intervention paradigm. It deals with the psychological, social and organizational issues associated with working life across the cancer patients journey to survivorship. This review will be published later this year.

The presentation may be cited as:

Cox, T., and MacLennan, S. (2013) Cancer survivorship and working life. Invited paper to: Health and Wellbeing at Work Conference 2013. NEC Birmingham (March).

The review may be cited as:

Cox, T., MacLennan, S., and N’Dow, J. (2013) Cancer, work and the quality of working life: A Narrative review. In: P Chen & C Cooper (eds) Wellbeing in the Workplace: From Stress to Happiness. Oxford & New York: Wiley-Blackwell.
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FEBRUARY: NEW PUBLICATION

Posted on February 27, 2013 by The Old Grey Fox

Medics’ Attitudes to Older Adults

JAGSWe have had our review of medical students’ and doctors’ attitudes to older adults accepted for publication in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (Education and Training). It deals with the evidence on the effectiveness of interventions to improve such attitudes. The journal’s impact factor is: 3.737.  The paper can be cited as:

Samra, R., Griffiths, A., Cox, T., Conroy, S., and Knight, A. (In press) Changes in medical students’ and doctors’ attitudes towards older adults after an intervention: A systematic review. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Thanks to the hard work of all my colleagues especially Raj Samra.
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JANUARY: NEW PUBLICATION

Posted on January 23, 2013 by The Old Grey Fox

HAZARDS OF WORK: MINING IN GHANA

JSRWe have had our paper on the nature of the psychosocial and physical hazards associated with work in the mining industry in Ghana accepted by the Journal of Safety Research (impact factor: 1.29(5)). It can be cited as:

Amponsah-Tawiah, K., Leka, S., Jain, A., Hollis, D., and Cox, T. (In press) Examining psychosocial and physical hazards in the Ghanaian mining industry and their implications for employees’ safety experience. Accepted: Journal of Safety Research.

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JANUARY: NEW PUBLICATION

Posted on January 15, 2013 by The Old Grey Fox

Narrative Exposure Therapy

bmc psychiatryWe have had our paper on the use of Narrative Exposure Therapy in the treatment of adult survivors of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake published by BMC Psychiatry (impact factor 2.55). It may be cited as:

Zang, Y., Hunt, N., & Cox, T. (2013). A randomised controlled pilot study: The effectiveness of narrative exposure therapy with adult survivors of the Sichuan earthquake. BMC Psychiatry, 13 (1), 41. doi: 10.1186/1471-244X-13-41
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AUTUMN & NEW YEAR BREAK 2012

Posted on January 11, 2013 by The Old Grey Fox

Nokia 11.2012 003I took a break from my blog for nearly three months, November 2012 into January 2013, having been busy with a major funding application in psychosocial oncology through METIS, building works at home and then welcome escapes to Dubai and, more recently, Florida. Beyond these things, two other important things have happened which I can comment on.

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JANUARY: INSTITUTE OF WORK, HEALTH & ORGANIZATIONS
End of An Era

iwhoDecisions appear to have been made about the future of the Institute of Work, Health & Organizations at the University of Nottingham. It would seem that the days of the Institute are now numbered. Sad as this may be for those who have worked hard for the success of this project, such a decision is the University’s to make in the context of its overall development strategy. One can only hope for the sake of the staff involved that the Institute’s closure is well managed.

Clore BBKCoincidently, plans for a new research centre at Birkbeck University of London in occupational health psychology and management are now nearing completion. If approved, a platform will be created which will allow us to continue to work with many of the core interests developed by the Institute of Work, Health & Organizations over the last 13 years. We feel that it is important that the UK’s contribution to occupational health psychology is maintained.

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DECEMBER: NEW FUNDING
Macmillan in Scotland

mac workMETIS has secured the support of Macmillan Cancer Support in Scotland for a 18 month project to research and develop a new Patient Advice & Information System (Scot-PAIS) for those with cancer in Scotland. The award is in excess of £ 100,000 and will be managed through the Academic Urology Unit in the School of Medicine & Dentistry at the University of Aberdeen. The research will be led by Dr Sara MacLennan with my involvement and that of Professor James N’Dow.
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NEWS FROM 2012

Posted on July 15, 2011 by The Old Grey Fox

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OCTOBER: THE PICCADILLY CLUB
Autumn Meeting

This month, the Piccadilly Club held its Autumn Supper Meeting and discussions on occupational health on the South Bank in London. Its next meeting will be next Spring probably in March. The Club will then be in its 6th year. Membership is by collective invitation only.
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OCTOBER: OFFICE OF THE RAIL REGULATOR (ORR)
International Workers Day Conference

I presented an invited paper on Change, Stress & Employee Health for the ORR at its recent conference in the St Pancras Hotel, London, to mark International Workers Day. I have previously been involved with the rail industry as a Non Executive Director of the Rail Safety & Standards Board and of its predecessor, Railway Safety. I was also Chair of the Board of Trustees of CIRAS, a confidential safety reporting system for the rail industry, while it was an independent charity.

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JANUARY: NEW PUBLICATION ~ delayed announcement
Rail passenger crowding: scale development

Transportation Research_Part F Transport PsychologyThe first paper on our research on rail passenger crowding was published in January 2012 by Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology. The journal has an impact factor of: 1.989. The paper introduced our new measure of crowding for use in applied settings. It can be cited as:

Mohd Mahudin, N.D., Cox, T., and Griffiths, A. (2012) The measurement of rail passenger crowding: scale development and psychometric properties. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology, 15 (1), 38-51.

My thanks to my colleagues for their efforts and particularly to Nor Diana Mohd Mahudin.
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SEPTEMBER: NEW PUBLICATION
Cancer survival and working life

Our narrative review of the available literature on Cancer, work and the quality of working life will be published next year in a new book by Peter Chen and Cary Cooper on Wellbeing in the Workplace. The book, and our chapter, attempt to paint a more positive picture of the relationship between work and health than that created by the stress literature.

Our contribution comes from the research being carried out by the METIS Collaboration. It is: Cox, T., MacLennan, S., and N’Dow, J. (2013) Cancer, work and the quality of working life: A Narrative review. In: P Chen & C Cooper (eds) Wellbeing in the Workplace: From Stress to Happiness. Oxford & New York: Wiley-Blackwell.
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SEPTEMBER: NORTH WEST OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH GROUP
Mental Health & Stress in Occupational Health

I have just presented the Keynote Paper at a meeting of the North West Occupational Health Group (Tuesday 25th September) which was held in the Park Royal Hotel in Cheshire near Warrington. My title was: Occupational Mental Health: A Confused Cinderella. More information at: www.nwohg.co.uk.
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SEPTEMBER: NEW PUBLICATION
The Short Form of the Changes in Outlook Questionnaire

Our paper on The Short Form of the Changes in Outlook Questionnaire: Translation and Validation of the Chinese Version has been published in Health & Quality of Life Outcomes (2012) 10:41.

The paper’s reference is: www.hqlo.com/content/10/1/41. The authors are: Y Zang, N Hunt, T Cox and S Joseph. The journal has an Impact Factor of 2.11.
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JUNE: ALL-ISLAND SEMINAR ON OBESITY
Safefood, Irish Society of Chartered Physiotherapists and Chartered Society of Physiotherapists (CSP) Northern Ireland

In June, I presented the opening paper to an All-Island Seminar on Obesity held on 19th June at Queens University Belfast. About 120 professionals attended. The seminar was introduced by Cliodhna Foley-Nolan (Safefood) and Tom Sullivan (CSP Northern Ireland). My paper, Workplace Health & Obesity, discussed the relationships among work, employee health and organisations and the nature, importance and impact of obesity in this set of equations. My PowerPoint overheads will be available on the safefood website at: www.safefood.eu. 
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MAY: NEW APPOINTMENT
Professor of Occupational Health Psychology & Management

As news of my retirement from Nottingham spread, I received an offer of a new Chair in Occupational Health Psychology & Management at Birkbeck University of London. The position is part time (as required by our pension fund USS) and starts of 1st July 2012. I will help the further development of the Department of Organizational Psychology through a new initiative in work-related health and safety psychology and management. I am now semi-retired!
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MAY: RETIREMENT & VALEDICTORY LECTURE
Looking Forward, Looking Back: Reflections on a Contribution to Organisational Psychology and Occupational Health

I retired from employment with the Institute as its Professor of Organizational Psychology on 31st May 2012 following my Valedictory Lecture: Looking Forward, Looking Back: Reflections on a Contribution to Organisational Psychology and Occupational Health. About 80 colleagues and friends attended the lecture.

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