What is it about?
Sports medicine is a wide field of knowledge with a focus on the physical and psychological aspects of individuals; unfortunately, it is not well-known among occupational therapy practitioners. If at all, it is focused on exercise therapy for physical injuries and pain. We agree there are many types of physical pain and injuries among workers in different occupations, but not all that pain is related to physical overuse. Recently, new recommendations were presented by the American College of Sports Medicine highlighting particularly the psychological aspects of occupational emotional fitness. However, there is very little research about the concurrent effects of cost-effective packages of therapy for occupational emotional and physical fitness. Accordingly, this commentary reviews the occupational physical and emotional fitness aspects of sports medicine. In addition, this work makes suggestions to examine packages and protocols of physical and emotional fitness, with therapeutic targets for occupational cultures in different societies for employees and employers.
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Why is it important?
In general, physical pain and injuries, particularly musculoskeletal discomfort (MSD), are a collection of painful injuries regarding the tendons, nerves, muscles, carpal tunnel syndrome, and tendonitis [1, 2]. Musculoskeletal discomfort can happen to any employee, irrespective of gender or age, and is typically directly connected to a person’s job [3]. It can explain 42%–58% of occupational health concerns [4]. The relationship between occupation and the incidence of MSD is not completely based on the physical work environment strain [5, 6]. Musculoskeletal discomfort risk factors are related to both psychosocial and physical characteristics [7, 8]. Research in Europe provided evidence that socioeconomic status can contribute to the MSD burden, especially for spinal conditions, osteoporosis, and arthritis [9]. Another study from the United Kingdom (UK) revealed that MSD, especially in the shoulder, back, neck, and knee, was more widespread in areas that were economically disadvantaged [10].
Perspectives
There exists an important question: what is the specific protocol for emotional and physical fitness for employees in the same organization yet have varying nationalities (Asian, European, American, etc.) with different cultures in addition to their various physical characters? We believe it would be interesting and useful to examine different packages and protocol of physical fitness, enriched by emotional fitness, with therapeutic targets for various occupational cultures in different societies for employees and employers. Developing combined protocols of physical and emotional fitness has the potential not only to be effective on the physical aspects of individuals, but also to represent a dynamic balance between managing essential needs, cultivating feelings of belonging and purpose, and flourishing at the individual level. This achievement may be helpful for the applicability and generalizability to other cultures for employers and employees, and it may improve aspects of their social and personal lives.
Dr Ardalan Shariat
Tehran University of Medical Sciences
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Occupational physical and emotional fitness, Work, April 2018, IOS Press,
DOI: 10.3233/wor-182696.
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