Design for Care

Healthcare and social assistance (HSA) workers provide essential care for us when we are most in need. Their work is incredibly rewarding and can be emotionally and physically demanding, but critical for our community. icare claims data shows that in recent years, workers in this industry have experienced a rise in psychological injury-related claims.

In a new initiative for the Workers Compensation Nominal Insurer, icare is partnering with Curtin University's Centre for Transformative Work Design. The Design for Care Program aims to support innovation in work design to prevent and reduce psychological injuries for workers in private healthcare and social assistance, such as residential and community care providers.

Key psychosocial risks including high job demands, low control, inadequate support, unclear roles, and poor organisational justice lead to psychological injuries among HSA workers. This highlights the importance of developing more mentally healthy workplaces.

Through this initiative, we are developing a deeper understanding of how psychosocial risk factors can be reduced through work design and other organisational factors.

In order to support innovations that prevent and reduce psychological injuries in the healthcare and social assistance industry, icare began an Expression of Interest (EOI) process on 10 December 2020, which closed on 15 January 2021. After evaluating all responses to the EOI invitation, a shortlist of invitees participated in a competitive selection process and Curtin University's Centre for Transformative Work Design was selected as the preferred partner.

The Design for Care program commenced implementation in July 2021.