Intercultural Encounters – Issues and Intervention Strategies Involving Immigrant Workers with an Occupational Injury

Québec’s labour market has changed significantly in the past few years, notably with the slower growth of the labour force, an aging population, higher education levels among workers and an increasing proportion of immigrants in the workforce.
In its recent work on occupational rehabilitation, the IRSST has taken a particular interest in workers in vulnerable situations, including immigrant workers. Immigrant workers are considered a more vulnerable population due to, among other things, their proportionately higher-than-average presence in sectors characterized by less favourable working conditions and higher exposure to the risk of occupational injuries. Language and cultural barriers sometimes compound these factors.
The content of this document derives from a study titled The Notion of Ethnocultural Belonging in Rehabilitation Research and Intervention: Knowledge Summaries (published in 2012) and a study (completed in 2017) on the rehabilitation and return-to-work trajectories of immigrant workers with an occupational injury. This study highlighted the role of the health professionals and OHS practitioners involved, their intervention strategies and interactions, and the issues specific to intercultural encounters, while underscoring the impact of the organizational context on these aspects