2018

2018 news posts

International Forum on Disability Management – Towards IFDM 2020 – Brussels

During the conclusion of IFDM 2018 held in Vancouver, Canada, October 15-17, attended by 400 delegates from 30 countries, organized by the Pacific Coast University for Workplace Health Sciences (PCU-WHS), the handover took place to Brussels, site of the 10th International Biennial Congress on Disability Management and Return to Work – IFDM 2020 – to be hosted by the Belgium Federal Social Security Organization, INAMI. To view the bulletin with further details, please click on the following link: More information

Prior to the handover to Belgium, the Hon. Wayne G. Wouters, PC, OC, Chancellor of PCU-WHS and Master of Ceremonies for IFDM 2018, read the IFDM 2018 Canada Declaration, which sets out a series of challenges and opportunities for relevant stakeholders on a range of key initiatives which could be undertaken and contribute towards achieving much improved and sustained social and economic outcomes for disabled workers, employers, and our society at large. The Canada Declaration is available for downloading and viewing on the IFDM 2018 website at: www.ifdm2018.com

Over 80 Presentations were delivered by experts from 20 countries during the conference. These have been uploaded to the IFDM 2018 website. Please click on the tab marked Program on the website and click on the links provided in the titles of the Plenary presentations as well as of the Concurrent Workshop presentation titles.

To view the Gallery of Photos taken at IFDM 2018, please visit the IFDM 2018 website and click on the tab marked Gallery of Photos.

To view the Welcome videos from Federal Ministers Carla Qualtrough and Patty Hajdu and BC Premier John Horgan, please click on the tab marked Video Library on the website.

IFDM 2018 – Second Update

Keynote Address: Bill C-81, An Act to ensure a barrier-free Canada
We are pleased to announce that Ms. Yazmine Laroche, Deputy Minister, Public Service Accessibility, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, will be the opening keynote speaker taking place on Monday, October 15, 9:00 am – 10:00 am. Ms. Laroche was appointed to this position by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on August 7, 2018 with a mandate to lead the Government’s public service accessibility agenda. For further details, please see the attached Second Update.

International Forum on Disability Management – IFDM 2018 – Update

We are pleased to confirm the participants for the IFDM Plenary Panel taking place Tuesday, October 16, at 8:45 am – 10:15 am in the Plenary entitled:

The Disappearing Workplace: Challenges and Opportunities for Workers Compensation Systems
This distinguished Panel will be chaired by Dr. Joachim Breuer, Director General of the German Federal Workers Compensation System – DGUV of Berlin, and President of the International Social Security Association – ISSA of Geneva.
For details regarding the Panel members, please see the attached Update.

Continuing Professional Development Opportunities at PCU-WHS

PCU-WHS is open to accepting Certified Disability Management Professionals (CDMPs) and Certified Return to Work Coordinators (CRTWCs) who wish to gain Continuing Education Credits in order to maintain professional certification.

Each term of the academic year, the University offers a selection of courses that may be of interest to practising CDMPs and CRTWCs through its online learning platform. These courses are taught by highly qualified and experienced professors using an instructional format that allows flexibility for learners as to when and how they participate. This approach offers a convenient way for career professionals to integrate continuing education into their busy schedules. Currently, applications are open for the following course:

WHDM 404: Economics of Workplace Health Initiatives

The course takes place from September 10 to December 2.

Please click on the link below to view the Learning Objectives for the course and the instructor bio: Continuing Education Opportunity at PCU-WHS Fall 2018

Successful completion of the course provides 40 CEC hours for CDMPs and CRTWCs.

For registration information, please visit the PCU-WHS website at:
https://www.pcu-whs.ca/admissions/admissions-process/

Or contact Jennifer Murray, Student Services & Records Coordinator at: education@pcu-whs.ca or phone: 1-778-421-0821, ext. 209.

Honourable Seamus O’Regan visits PCU-WHS Campus

The Pacific Coast University for Workplace Health Sciences (PCU-WHS) was most pleased to host the Honourable Seamus O’Regan, Canada’s Federal Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence at its campus today. The Minister was very interested to learn more about the broader area of Return to Work / Disability Management, both in Canada and around the world. For further details, please see newsletter attached.

As a result of the visit, the Minister issued several tweets on his Twitter account, which can be viewed on the PCU-WHS Twitter account at: https://twitter.com/pcuwhs

INTERNATIONAL FORUM ON DISABILITY MANAGEMENT – IFDM 2018

REGISTRATION is available online. To register, please go to the IFDM 2018 website at: IFDM 2018
Click on the tab, “Registration”.
To view the Preliminary Program, click on the tab, “Program”.
The International Disability Management Standards Council (IDMSC), working in collaboration with the IFDM conferences, provides confirmation of 20 CEC hours to current holders of the CDMP and CRTWC professional designations who attend the full IFDM conference and optimize all learning activities.

PCU-WHS signs agreement with Pilon School of Business at Sheridan College

An agreement signed between the Pilon School of Business at Sheridan College and Pacific Coast University for Workplace Health Sciences (PCU-WHS) allows students who have completed the diploma program in Human Resources to transfer their credits from Sheridan towards the Bachelor of Disability Management at PCU-WHS.

The Bachelor of Disability Management is the first – and only – degree of this nature and level internationally. It provides graduates with the underpinning of knowledge, skills and competencies to assist absent workers to return to work and employing organizations to promote and protect the health of workers.

“In my opinion a significant piece of the future of human resources will involve disability management and return to work,” says Shady Hana, a Professor and HR Program Coordinator at Sheridan College. “This is especially true with aspects of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) coming into play within the next three to five years here in Ontario. The partnership with PCU-WHS provides a priceless opportunity for our students to learn about this growing field.”

More information

Official Ryerson Press Release regarding Daphne Taras Board Member of PCU-WHS

On behalf of the Board of Governors of PCU-WHS, Co-Chairs Dean Winsor (Employer Co-Chair & VP-HR, Teck Resources) and Ken Neumann (Labour Co-Chair & National Director, United Steelworkers), we extend sincerest congratulations to PCU-WHS Board Member Daphne Taras, PhD, on her recent appointment as Dean, Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University, Toronto. For complete details, please refer to the link below.

IFDM 2018 Receives Government of Canada Support

The Pacific Coast University for Workplace Health Sciences (PCU-WHS) is pleased to announce that the 2018
International Forum on Disability Management (IFDM) conference will receive sponsorship through the Government of Canada’s Social Development Partnerships Program-Disability.

The Honourable Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science and Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities said, “Canada is at its best and all of society benefits when everyone is included. By bringing together academics, professionals and disability stakeholders from all over the world to share their knowledge and generate valuable ideas, this conference will help ensure that Canadians with disabilities are able to fully participate in their workplaces and communities.”

“We are very grateful for the significant support that the Government of Canada has provided, especially when considering recent reports that indicate 23 percent of all people living in poverty across Canada are persons with mental or physical health impairments, and in excess of 80 percent of impairments are acquired during a person’s working life, and therefore effective and collaborative workplace efforts in job retention and return to work can have a significant impact on changing this narrative” said Wolfgang Zimmermann, President of PCU-WHS.

To view the full media release, please see attached.

As an additional update, please note that the deadline for the Call for Abstracts has been extended to April 2, 2018.
For further details on the Call for Abstracts, please visit the following webpage: https://www.ifdm2018.com/call-for-abstracts/

IFDM 2018 Secretariat
Email: info@ifdm2018.com
Web: www.ifdm2018.com

CSPDM Appoints New Chair

Evie DoCouto, Vice President, Return to Work Division at the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) of Ontario, has been appointed Chair of the Canadian Society of Professionals in Disability Management. In this role, she also serves as Chair of the Canadian Certification Council, which awards the professional designations of Certified Disability Management Professional (CDMP) and Certified Return to Work Coordinator (CRTWC) under the auspices of the International Disability Management Standards Council, a standard of excellence in the Disability Management field comparable to ISO certification in other sectors. More Information

MAY 30, 2018 – DATE IS SET FOR THE CDMP AND CRTWC CERTIFICATION EXAMINATIONS

The date has been set for the 2018 CDMP and CRTWC professional certification examinations, which will take place in Canada, the UK, and Hong Kong on this date. For further details, please click on the link below, which will take you to the appropriate page:

CDMP Certification Examination

CRTWC Certification Examination

Or, please contact NIDMAR directly at:

Tel: 778-421-0821, ext. 210
Email: nidmar@nidmar.ca

The Enhanced Disability Management Program – A Case Study

The sheer scale of the Enhanced Disability Management Program (EDMP) is the reason that it is the subject of a case study as it currently covers approximately 150,000 workers in four Bargaining Associations and all health authorities across British Columbia’s health care system.

The aim of the paper is to document the current status of the EDMP which has built on previous initiatives to create an industry wide consensus based approach to keeping people ill or injured connected to the workplace in the health sector in BC. The learning points of two of the previous initiatives that set out to establish effective job retention and return to work programs in health and care facilities using a consensus based disability management approach are also described.

To view or download the document, please click on the link below.
More Information

IFDM 2018

Planning is well underway. The website is updated.

Information re Call for Abstracts is posted detailing the conference streams and specific topic areas for presenters. Deadline for abstract submissions is February 28, 2018.

View the “Welcome to IFDM 2018” message from the Honourable Wayne G. Wouters, PC, OC, Chancellor of PCU-WHS, host organization for the event, by clicking on the “More information” link provided below.

Hotel and venue information is available on the website, as well as information regarding discounted travel fares.

For further details, please visit the website: IFDM 2018

More Information

 

Disability Management Professionals in Belgium

A ceremony took place in Belgium at the end of November to recognize the first group of participants to complete the Disability Management Practitioner training program and also to present the IDMSC certificates to those who successfully passed the professional certification examinations. Attached please find the IDMSC Communique which provides the background on the agreement between the Belgium Health Insurance Agency (RIZIV/INAMI) and NIDMAR as well as comments from participants in the training program.
More Information