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Initiatives Addressing Precarious Employment and Its Effects on Workers’ Health and Well-Being: A Systematic Review

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  • Virginia Gunn

    (Unit of Occupational Medicine, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, 11365 Stockholm, Sweden
    MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, Michael’s Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, ON M5B 1W8, Canada
    Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto, St. George Campus, Toronto, ON M5T 1P8, Canada)

  • Bertina Kreshpaj

    (Unit of Occupational Medicine, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, 11365 Stockholm, Sweden)

  • Nuria Matilla-Santander

    (Unit of Occupational Medicine, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, 11365 Stockholm, Sweden)

  • Emilia F. Vignola

    (Department of Community Health and Social Sciences, Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, City University of New York, New York, NY 10025, USA)

  • David H. Wegman

    (University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, MA 01854, USA
    La Isla Network, Washington, DC 20005, USA)

  • Christer Hogstedt

    (Unit of Occupational Medicine, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, 11365 Stockholm, Sweden)

  • Emily Q. Ahonen

    (Division of Occupational and Environmental Health, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT 84108, USA)

  • Theo Bodin

    (Unit of Occupational Medicine, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, 11365 Stockholm, Sweden
    Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Stockholm Region, 11365 Stockholm, Sweden)

  • Cecilia Orellana

    (Unit of Occupational Medicine, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, 11365 Stockholm, Sweden)

  • Sherry Baron

    (Barry Commoner Center for Health and the Environment, Queens College, City University of New York, New York, NY 11367, USA)

  • Carles Muntaner

    (Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto, St. George Campus, Toronto, ON M5T 1P8, Canada
    Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5T 1P8, Canada
    Department of Mental Health, The Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MA 21205, USA)

  • Patricia O’Campo

    (MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, Michael’s Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, ON M5B 1W8, Canada
    Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5T 1P8, Canada)

  • Maria Albin

    (Unit of Occupational Medicine, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, 11365 Stockholm, Sweden
    Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Stockholm Region, 11365 Stockholm, Sweden)

  • Carin Håkansta

    (Unit of Occupational Medicine, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, 11365 Stockholm, Sweden
    Working Life Science, Karlstad Business School, Karlstad University, 65188 Karlstad, Sweden)

Abstract

The prevalence of precarious employment has increased in recent decades and aspects such as employment insecurity and income inadequacy have intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this systematic review was to identify, appraise, and synthesise existing evidence pertaining to implemented initiatives addressing precarious employment that have evaluated and reported health and well-being outcomes. We used the PRISMA framework to guide this review and identified 11 relevant initiatives through searches in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and three sources of grey literature. We found very few evaluated interventions addressing precarious employment and its impact on the health and well-being of workers globally. Ten out of 11 initiatives were not purposefully designed to address precarious employment in general, nor specific dimensions of it. Seven out of 11 initiatives evaluated outcomes related to the occupational health and safety of precariously employed workers and six out of 11 evaluated worker health and well-being outcomes. Most initiatives showed the potential to improve the health of workers, although the evaluation component was often described with less detail than the initiative itself. Given the heterogeneity of the 11 initiatives regarding study design, sample size, implementation, evaluation, economic and political contexts, and target population, we found insufficient evidence to compare outcomes across types of initiatives, generalize findings, or make specific recommendations for the adoption of initiatives.

Suggested Citation

  • Virginia Gunn & Bertina Kreshpaj & Nuria Matilla-Santander & Emilia F. Vignola & David H. Wegman & Christer Hogstedt & Emily Q. Ahonen & Theo Bodin & Cecilia Orellana & Sherry Baron & Carles Muntaner , 2022. "Initiatives Addressing Precarious Employment and Its Effects on Workers’ Health and Well-Being: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-35, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:4:p:2232-:d:750583
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    References listed on IDEAS

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