Design for Care State of Affairs Breakfast 4: SMARTer work design to prevent psychological injury

Psychological injury resulting from poor work design is a growing risk to workers in the Healthcare and Social Assistance (H&SA) industry. Since 2021, the Design for Care project has been working with H&SA workers to understand their challenges and co-design work redesign solutions to create SMARTer work that supports employees’ mental health and wellbeing.  

At the upcoming Design for Care State of Affairs event, the Design for Care research team will present new insights from the project. Attendees will hear from:  

• John Curtin Distinguished Professor Sharon Parker (Centre for Transformative Work Design, Curtin University) who will present the latest evidence from the PARRTH to SMART Work Design pilots, as well as practical, evidence-based work redesign tips for practitioners in the H&SA industry.  

• Professor Alex Collie (Monash University) who will outline an innovative way that organisations can analyse their workers’ compensation claims data for actionable insights.  

  
  

With interactive discussions, attendees can connect with other H&SA professionals to share insights from their own experiences of work design in their industry.  

Finally, we will preview the Design for Care Platform, an innovative survey platform with case studies and resources to support the development of SMARTer work in the H&SA industry.

• Cost: Free with complimentary breakfast. Supported by icare NSW.

• Registration: Please register via Humanitix. Early registration is recommended as places are limited. 

• Who should attend: Leaders in the area of workplace well-being, mental health, workers compensation and psychosocial risk within the H&SA Industry.

About the Design for Care Project 

Design for Care is a research project funded by icare NSW with the goal of developing and evaluating how work can be redesigned to promote mentally healthy workplaces in the healthcare and social assistance (H&SA) industry. The project is led by Professor Sharon Parker at Curtin University’s Centre for Transformative Work Design, with Professor Anya Johnson & Professor Helena Nguyen at the University of Sydney, and Professor Alex Collie at Monash University.  

About the SpeakersJohn Curtin Distinguished Professor Sharon Parker

John Curtin Distinguished Professor Sharon K. Parker is the world’s leading expert on work design. She is the founder of the SMART work design model and co-founder of the Thrive at Work Initiative and Director of the Centre for Transformative Work Design, which she established. She is a John Curtin Distinguished Professor at Curtin University, a Fellow of the Academy of Management, the Australian Academy of Social Sciences, and the Society for Industrial and Organisational Psychology.As Project Lead of the Design for Care initiative, she leads a research project between three leading universities aimed at developing and assessing work design interventions to create mentally healthy work in the NSW healthcare and social assistance (H&SA) industry.She is a recipient of several recognitions and awards including the ARC’s Kathleen Fitzpatrick Laureate Fellowship Award, the Academy of Management OB Division Mentoring Award, and a joint winner of the Scientist of the Year award at the 2024 Western Australian Premier's Science Awards.

Professor Alex Collie

Professor Alex Collie is Director of the Healthy Working Lives Research Group and the Division of Health Systems, Services and Policy in the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine at Monash University. He is also President of the Scientific Committee on Work Disability Prevention for the International Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH), the peak global scientific body for work and health research; and a member of the Australian Research Council College of Experts. Alex is also an ARC Future Fellow (2020 to 2024) and a Churchill Fellow.Professor Collie is an applied public health and social policy scholar. His research and teaching focus on work injury rehabilitation, occupational health and social protection schemes for personal injury. He leads a multidisciplinary, mixed methods research program set in Australian and international personal injury schemes such as workers’ compensation, motor vehicle crash compensation and disability insurance.