Research team
Expertise
My research examines how demanding work arrangements, such as long hours and commuting, influence everyday health behaviours. I am particularly interested in how workers manage time scarcity and how this impacts both their eating practices and their broader wellbeing, for example, stress and burnout. I have experience using quantitative methods, such as longitudinal analysis, two-part regression, and latent class analysis. I am currently applying systems science methods (agent-based modelling).
Nobody puts blue-collar workers in a corner: an agent-based modelling of emerging work-related policies and the health inequality gap.
Abstract
Low health and wellbeing amongst employees is a major public health concern, with immediate and long-term implications for individuals, organisations, and society. Emerging work-related policies (e.g., remote work, flexible hours, four-day work week, and the right to disconnect) have been introduced to tackle these issues. However, these policies primarily benefit white-collar workers, with equivalent support mechanisms largely absent for blue-collar workers. This policy divide has the potential to further widen existing health inequalities. To explore this challenge, this project will use a systems science approach. This approach concerns a way forward for meaningful and impactful policy research by offering innovative insights into complex, dynamic interactions that emerge within domains such as work-related policies and health inequalities. Agent-based modelling is proposed to allow modelling of the short- and long-term systemic impacts of work-related policies on worker health and wellbeing, with a critical focus on if (and how) they widen the inequality gap. Drawing on international examples and stakeholder input, a plausible policy portfolio tailored to blue-collar sectors in Belgium will be developed and modelled to simulate the impact of these policies separately as well as combined. Beyond providing innovative and societally relevant scientific outputs, the results can usefully inform future policy decisions.Researcher(s)
- Promoter: Thornton Lukar
- Fellow: Oostenbach Laura
Research team(s)
Project type(s)
- Research Project