Among the multiple factors that condition our health, quality of life and/or well-being, our work life is undoubtedly one of the most relevant. Broadening current knowledge on what determines a healthy working environment and promoting its key ingredients will lead to an improvement in workers' quality of work life, well-being and health. But, evidence also shows that this knowledge is also key to the health of organizations, in terms of productivity, efficiency, resilience, etc. This line of research is aimed at analysing and promoting the individual, organizational and social factors that enhance healthy working environments, which ultimately contribute to employees' quality of work life and well-being.
Specific thesis projects offered inside of this line of research include the following:
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Thesis Proposals |
Researchers |
Research Group |
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Organizational interventions to promote healthy work environments
Work is undoubtedly one of the most relevant factors that determine people’s health, quality of life and well-being. So, advancing knowledge and promoting the key factors that determine a healthy work environment not only leads to an improvement in workers’ quality of work life, well-being and health, but also it is crucial for the health of organizations (productivity, efficiency, resilience, etc.).
In this vein, our research aims to develop organizational interventions in order to promote healthy work environments, and contribute to workers’ health, quality of work life and well-being.
As you can see, we are working on several projects, but we are open to any innovative idea in the area. So we will be happy to hear about your ideas. |
Dr Pilar Ficapal Cusi
Dr Mihaela Enache Zegheru
Dr Vicente Peñarroja
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Stress and burnout in the workplace
People experience stress in their workplaces, understood as harmful physical and emotional responses that occur when the requirements of the job do not match the capabilities, resources, or needs of the worker. Although multiple stressors can be identified in work, currently we can especially highlight three work stressors: 1. Job precarity and job insecurity (concern about the possibility of job loss); 2. Mobbing; and 3. Emotion work, understood as management of one’s own feelings.
In this vein, our research aims to study stress and burnout processes in the workplace, examining different work stressors and burnout factors (i.e. job insecurity, mobbing or work emotion) as well as their potential determinants, consequences and coping strategies.
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Dr Pilar Ficapal Cusi
Dr Mihaela Enache Zegheru
Dr Vicente Peñarroja |
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AI, remote work, digital disconnection, technostress & worker health
The digital transformation of jobshas driven the growth of different forms of remote work (i.e. telework, work-from-home, digital platforms). Although these types of employment offer advantages (including greater autonomy and flexibility at work, or more flexibility in reconciling personal and professional life), they also have negative impacts on workers' health and quality of life, including the difficulty of digitally disconnecting from work or technostress. A lack of disconnection can lead to professional exhaustion as a result of increased work demands and difficulty in separating work and rest.
On the other hand, the appearance of social isolation in remote workers can also increase the risk of excessive digital use. In this line of research, it is proposed to examine the digital disconnection as a tool to prevent the adverse effects on occupational health of the excessive use of digital technologies.
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Dr Vicente Peñarroja
Dr Pilar Ficapal Cusi
Dr Mihaela Enache Zegheru |
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Pain and health at work
Pain affects a person's ability to perform at work and has a significant impact on quality of life. The relationship between pain and work is a topic that can be approached from a number of perspectives.
Inadequate working conditions can contribute to lumbar and cervical pain.
Pain can also be a common symptom in people with mental health problems such as stress and anxiety.
Our proposal for this line of research is to examine the relationship between work, pain and occupational health.
The aim is to investigate the interaction between different individual characteristics and psychosocial constructs on the one hand, and different dimensions of occupational health and working conditions on the other.
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pficapal@uoc.edu
vpenarrojac@uoc.edu
cenache@uoc.edu
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AI-Driven solutions for enhancing employee well-being
In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) and emerging technologies have gained prominence in workplace management and decision-making. These technologies offer new avenues for improving organizational processes, increasing productivity, and ensuring employee well-being.
Furthermore, AI-driven tools can be used to personalize interventions that enhance mental and physical health. The use of AI to optimize work-life balance, predict work-related health risks, and tailor support systems to individual needs could foster a healthier and more sustainable work environment.
This line of research aims to explore the potential of AI and machine learning technologies in promoting a balanced and healthy workplace.
We are open to innovative ideas and collaborations in this area, and we would be happy to hear your thoughts.
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pficapal@uoc.edu
vpenarrojac@uoc.edu
cenache@uoc.edu
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Artificial intelligence, gender and occupational health
This line of research analyses how the implementation of AI in work environments differentially affects the psychosocial health of workers based on their gender. Among other dimensions, it aims to critically analyse how algorithms reproduce gender biases in key organizational processes, and how automation and digital surveillance intensify workloads and emotional burdens unequally.
The research seeks to identify what psychosocial problems and risks arise with the implementation of AI in the workplace and through what processes it can promote the well-being of workers.
The ultimate goal is to develop a psychosocial intervention framework that mitigates these risks, promoting the design of inclusive AI systems and organizational policies that prioritize gender equality and holistic well-being as pillars of the future of work.
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Dr Anna Gálvez Mozo agalvez@uoc.edu |
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Work-life balance, sustainability and health
The concept of work-life balance (WLB) has recently established itself as a key component on roadmaps drawn up in the pursuit of social sustainability, both on a local scale, represented by individual organizations, and on a more general one, represented by global institutions such as the United Nations. There is broad consensus on the fact that WLB is of vital importance in industrialized nations and that it is becoming a pressing issue in developing countries as well. In the former case, the massive incorporation of women into the workplace, the rise in the number of single‐parent families and the increase in dependency as a result of ageing populations are some of the factors that explain why the issue of WLB has become a key item on the agendas of a number of European Union states.
We aim to understand, from a gender perspective, the relationship between work-life balance, social sustainability and community health, focusing on the sociopsychological effects it has both on people and their well-being and mental health and on organizations and the dynamics they produce to guarantee sustainability and inclusivity.
We are interested in qualitative research proposals analysing aspects such as:
- How the work dimension of people's lives affects the personal dimension and vice versa.
- How the relationship between the different dimensions affects and influences people's health and well-being.
- How organizations' measures related to WLB impact on the well-being and health of workers.
- How WLB influences sustainability, inclusiveness and equity of organizations.
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Dr Anna Gálvez Mozo agalvez@uoc.edu |
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Organizations, telework and social sustainability
Telework has appeared in the world of work and organizations as an excellent solution, especially since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Telework has been analysed from a wide variety of viewpoints, receiving both strong support and harsh criticism. Supporters underline telework's great potential to harmonize the different facets of people's lives; however, other authors reveal its more controversial and negative ramifications.
Our research aims to analyse the relationship between telework and social sustainability. We focus on analysing the different organizational, social, personal and cultural dimensions that influence and determine how teleworking becomes a way of working that promotes well-being and contributes to social sustainability.
We are interested in qualitative research proposals analysing aspects such as:
- Telework as a work-life balance measure and its effects and implications on people's health and well-being.
- The conditions and premises to implement telework in order to contribute to the improvement of labour conditions in organizations and the increase of workers' quality of life.
- How telework can contribute to social sustainability and the integration of organizations in their community.
- How telework can contribute to eliminating gender inequalities and promoting equality.
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Dr Anna Gálvez Mozo
Dr Elsa Santamaría |
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Precariousness and intensification of digital(ized) work and their effects on occupational health and well-being
The objective of this line of research is to analyse the processes of precariousness and intensification of work in the face of the transformations introduced by digitalization. It also aims to understand the effects they have on the health and well-being of workers. The phenomenon of work digitalization is very broad, encompassing the automation of tasks and jobs, the integration of robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) systems into work processes, the platformization of work and new ways of managing and organizing work. Its advance is creating new work environments and relationships, as well as new forms of work supervision and control, which present both opportunities and risks for job quality and for occupational health and well-being.
This line invites critical proposals, preferably with an intersectional approach, that analyse the consequences of precariousness and work intensification in digitalized work environments, as well as their unequal impact on the workforce. We seek to better understand the discomforts and suffering associated with work-time experiences (accelerated pace, blurred boundaries, constant connectivity) and the risks of losing labour protections and rights in the context of digital capitalism. Likewise, the study aims to delve into the strategies that workers develop to adapt to, negotiate or resist these labour dynamics and processes.
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Dr Elsa Santamaría esantamarial@uoc.edu |
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Organizational strategies and mental health
This line of research explores the complex relationship between work and mental health, as well as the practices and strategies organizations employ to foster healthy work environments. Although it is increasingly common for organizations to recognize the importance of mental health care and address its treatment, psychosocial risk assessment in the workplace remains insufficient and limited. There is still a need to increase visibility and reduce the stigma surrounding mental health issues.
This line of research seeks to analyse how mental health is being addressed in organizations, which approaches prevail and what the consequences of their implementation are. It advocates for the need to incorporate critical analyses that propose alternative strategies, ones that do not prioritize an individualistic and positivist approach, but rather address work-related, structural and cultural factors for sustainable well-being.
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Dr Elsa Santamaría |