Challenges in Work, Health & Wellbeing, all lectures summary, 2024-2025
Challenges in Work, Health and Wellbeing
(201800084)
Universiteit Utrecht, 2024-2025
Welcome to this comprehensive summary of the lectures of Challenges in
Work, Health & Wellbeing: an interdisciplinairy approach. This summary
covers:
+ All lectures
+ Definitions of terms used
+ Extra explanations & clarifications
+ Usefull tables from the literature.
Overview of the lectures:
1) What are work, health & wellbeing and how are they related + the
unequal distributino of welfare & work.
2) How does the workplace make you sick of better?
3) Worker voice for health & wellbeing
4) Work site health promotion
5) Sustainable employability
6) Ideal workers norms & devotion schemas
7) Diverse bodies at work
This course focuses on: organizations & workplaces.
Lecture 1a: what do we mean by work, health & wellbeing and how
are they related?
What is work?
- Paid vs unpaid work
o Marx: productive vs. reproductive labour
- What work is paid/unpaid is time & context dependent.
- This course: focus on paid work in organizations.
Jobs: situated descriptions of employment, that take into account where and
how work is actually performed (ahanon et al. 2018)
Elements of jobs:
o Employment relationship
o Occupation
o Working conditions
o Job characteristics
Pro-work / anti-work
- Commodification of labor: labor is bought and sold on the market.
- Work-centred societies: work as central part of your life.
,Challenges in Work, Health & Wellbeing, all lectures summary, 2024-2025
- Anti-work: ‘’born to live, forced to work’’
The complex relation between work, health and wellbeing
- Work affects health & wellbeing in complex, reciprocal,
heterogeneous ways
- Work is an important boost for people’s wellbeing and health
- Work is a major cause of illness and injury
Health & well-being are adjacent concepts.
- Health = not merely the absence of disease or infirmity but a state of
complete physical, mental and social well-being (WHO)
- Well-being = the combination of feeling good and functioning well:
the experience of positive emotions such as happiness and
contentment as well as the development of one’s potential, having
some control over one’s life, having a sense of purpose and
experiencing positive relationships (Huppert, 2009)
Job rewards/resources
- Positive impacts of jobs on wellbeing and health: job rewards, job
resources
- Wellbeing rewards of employment include
o Income, social status
o Identity
o Social networks
- Health rewards of employment include:
o Better self-reported physical and mental health
o Psycho-social resources
o Health insurance & benefits
Job demands or risks
- Job demands, stressors or risks: negative effects of jobs on health &
wellbeing
- Work related health problems are common
Lecture 1b The unequal distribution of health & wellbeing risks and
rewards of work.
Unequal exposure to wellbeing benefits & risks
- Work affects health and wellbeing in complex, reciprocal,
heterogeneous ways.
- Labor markets are unequal institutions
o Social/occupational class theory: social differentiation based
on professions.
,Challenges in Work, Health & Wellbeing, all lectures summary, 2024-2025
o Labor market segmentation: insider/outsider theories: your
position and job matter for your aces to welfare, wage en status.
(Kalleberg: there are good jobs & bad jobs)
- Paid work of workers is often subdivided into segments:
o Blue vs. white collar; manual vs. non-manual
o Self-employment vs dependent employment (employee)
o Occupation / occupational class
Inequalities in wellbeing & rewards
- Labor market inequalities are related to, for example:
o Earnings
o Contract status & job security
o Entitlement to paid leave
o Autonomy and authority
- But also:
o Exposure to health risks and benefits
Unequal exposure to physical health risks
- Employment exposes workers to physical and mental health demands
or risks in heterogeneous or unequal ways.
- Occupational health disparities:
o Different jobs pose different risks
Exposure to hazards
Repetitive overuse
Working conditions
stress
o Some jobs expose workers to more risks than others
Study-advisor vs. builder.
Common physical health risk at work (in order)
- Tiring of painful positions
- Activities involving strong visual concentration
- Handling of heavy loads
- Repetitive hand or arm movement
- Use of machines or hand tools and vehicles
- Chemicals, dusts, fumes, smoke of gases
- Noise or vibration
- Slips, trips and falls
- And more…
Differences in exposure to physical health risks
Highest rate of risk factors Lowest rate risk factors physical
physical health health
Agriculture, forestry & fishing Education
, Challenges in Work, Health & Wellbeing, all lectures summary, 2024-2025
Mining & quarrying Information and communication
Construction Activities of households as
employers
Water supply: sewerage Financial and insurance activities
Transportation and storage Real estate activities
Take away messages:
- In our current societies, work takes on moral value (this may be
criticized)
- The relation between work, health and wellbeing is complex,
reciprocal and heterogeneous
- Different jobs are associated with different exposure to physical and
psycho-social demands and resources
Lecture 2: how does work improve and impede health and
wellbeing?
Part 1: physical, mental & emotional labour
Shades of bad health
- Medical sociology / anthropology
Three dimensions than can overlap:
o Illness: first person perspective -> I am Ill.
o Disease, disorder: professional perspective -> Diagnosis
from doctor/therapist
o Sickness / sick role: societal perspective -> We think this is a
sickness (
Costs of illness, disease & sickness
Why should we are about adverse health impacts of work?
- Individual
- Employer
- Society / welfare state
Illness at work
- Work, health & wellbeing have a reciprocal relation
o Not all sickness at work is caused by work
o Not all sickness caused by disease
- Managing disease & illness at work
Activities, behaviors & sickness
- Expected activities and behaviors at work
o Physical
o Mental
Challenges in Work, Health and Wellbeing
(201800084)
Universiteit Utrecht, 2024-2025
Welcome to this comprehensive summary of the lectures of Challenges in
Work, Health & Wellbeing: an interdisciplinairy approach. This summary
covers:
+ All lectures
+ Definitions of terms used
+ Extra explanations & clarifications
+ Usefull tables from the literature.
Overview of the lectures:
1) What are work, health & wellbeing and how are they related + the
unequal distributino of welfare & work.
2) How does the workplace make you sick of better?
3) Worker voice for health & wellbeing
4) Work site health promotion
5) Sustainable employability
6) Ideal workers norms & devotion schemas
7) Diverse bodies at work
This course focuses on: organizations & workplaces.
Lecture 1a: what do we mean by work, health & wellbeing and how
are they related?
What is work?
- Paid vs unpaid work
o Marx: productive vs. reproductive labour
- What work is paid/unpaid is time & context dependent.
- This course: focus on paid work in organizations.
Jobs: situated descriptions of employment, that take into account where and
how work is actually performed (ahanon et al. 2018)
Elements of jobs:
o Employment relationship
o Occupation
o Working conditions
o Job characteristics
Pro-work / anti-work
- Commodification of labor: labor is bought and sold on the market.
- Work-centred societies: work as central part of your life.
,Challenges in Work, Health & Wellbeing, all lectures summary, 2024-2025
- Anti-work: ‘’born to live, forced to work’’
The complex relation between work, health and wellbeing
- Work affects health & wellbeing in complex, reciprocal,
heterogeneous ways
- Work is an important boost for people’s wellbeing and health
- Work is a major cause of illness and injury
Health & well-being are adjacent concepts.
- Health = not merely the absence of disease or infirmity but a state of
complete physical, mental and social well-being (WHO)
- Well-being = the combination of feeling good and functioning well:
the experience of positive emotions such as happiness and
contentment as well as the development of one’s potential, having
some control over one’s life, having a sense of purpose and
experiencing positive relationships (Huppert, 2009)
Job rewards/resources
- Positive impacts of jobs on wellbeing and health: job rewards, job
resources
- Wellbeing rewards of employment include
o Income, social status
o Identity
o Social networks
- Health rewards of employment include:
o Better self-reported physical and mental health
o Psycho-social resources
o Health insurance & benefits
Job demands or risks
- Job demands, stressors or risks: negative effects of jobs on health &
wellbeing
- Work related health problems are common
Lecture 1b The unequal distribution of health & wellbeing risks and
rewards of work.
Unequal exposure to wellbeing benefits & risks
- Work affects health and wellbeing in complex, reciprocal,
heterogeneous ways.
- Labor markets are unequal institutions
o Social/occupational class theory: social differentiation based
on professions.
,Challenges in Work, Health & Wellbeing, all lectures summary, 2024-2025
o Labor market segmentation: insider/outsider theories: your
position and job matter for your aces to welfare, wage en status.
(Kalleberg: there are good jobs & bad jobs)
- Paid work of workers is often subdivided into segments:
o Blue vs. white collar; manual vs. non-manual
o Self-employment vs dependent employment (employee)
o Occupation / occupational class
Inequalities in wellbeing & rewards
- Labor market inequalities are related to, for example:
o Earnings
o Contract status & job security
o Entitlement to paid leave
o Autonomy and authority
- But also:
o Exposure to health risks and benefits
Unequal exposure to physical health risks
- Employment exposes workers to physical and mental health demands
or risks in heterogeneous or unequal ways.
- Occupational health disparities:
o Different jobs pose different risks
Exposure to hazards
Repetitive overuse
Working conditions
stress
o Some jobs expose workers to more risks than others
Study-advisor vs. builder.
Common physical health risk at work (in order)
- Tiring of painful positions
- Activities involving strong visual concentration
- Handling of heavy loads
- Repetitive hand or arm movement
- Use of machines or hand tools and vehicles
- Chemicals, dusts, fumes, smoke of gases
- Noise or vibration
- Slips, trips and falls
- And more…
Differences in exposure to physical health risks
Highest rate of risk factors Lowest rate risk factors physical
physical health health
Agriculture, forestry & fishing Education
, Challenges in Work, Health & Wellbeing, all lectures summary, 2024-2025
Mining & quarrying Information and communication
Construction Activities of households as
employers
Water supply: sewerage Financial and insurance activities
Transportation and storage Real estate activities
Take away messages:
- In our current societies, work takes on moral value (this may be
criticized)
- The relation between work, health and wellbeing is complex,
reciprocal and heterogeneous
- Different jobs are associated with different exposure to physical and
psycho-social demands and resources
Lecture 2: how does work improve and impede health and
wellbeing?
Part 1: physical, mental & emotional labour
Shades of bad health
- Medical sociology / anthropology
Three dimensions than can overlap:
o Illness: first person perspective -> I am Ill.
o Disease, disorder: professional perspective -> Diagnosis
from doctor/therapist
o Sickness / sick role: societal perspective -> We think this is a
sickness (
Costs of illness, disease & sickness
Why should we are about adverse health impacts of work?
- Individual
- Employer
- Society / welfare state
Illness at work
- Work, health & wellbeing have a reciprocal relation
o Not all sickness at work is caused by work
o Not all sickness caused by disease
- Managing disease & illness at work
Activities, behaviors & sickness
- Expected activities and behaviors at work
o Physical
o Mental
