Methods

1. The City of Oshawa and its surrounding areas in Durham, Canada is a major manufacturing hub for automotive production in North America. In 2008 and 2009, we witnessed an unprecedented economic crisis not seen since the great depression. A record number of automobile industry workers lost their jobs as a result. Little is known about how these lay-offs affected the health and well-being of the workers and their families. This exploratory study examined the impact of being laid-off on the emotional, physical, social and financial health of auto-workers who experienced job loss. A mixed-research design was utilized. We employed a purposeful sampling method to recruit unemployed autoworkers in Durham from two locations: (i) the CAW Community Action Centre and, (ii) a Service Fair organized by the Durham Region Local Training Board. Participants were asked to complete an in-depth demographic and health questionnaire, and to partake in a focus group discussion session. The qualitative aspect of the study consisted of a phenomenological component comprised of semi-structured interviews that lasted between two to two-and-a-half hours. Narrative responses were recorded, coded and thematically analyzed. A total of 36 laid-off workers were interviewed between September and November, 2009. The mean age was 45 (SD=6), and the average length of time since laid-off was 13 months (SD=8). The total number of years employed ranged from 2 to 31.7 (mean=15, SD=8). Many participants reported high levels of stress, anxiety, depression, increased physical pain and discomfort, alterations to weight and other social functions, such as feelings of social abandonment, financial hardships including inability to fill prescription medications and loss of homes. Half of our participants also reported feelings of burden to others and a loss of social status, and 75% reported a loss of identity and pride. With regard to the self-rated health and well-being status on a scale of 1 (very poor) to 5 (excellent) since being laid-off, our participants reported mid-level physical health (score=3.12), but relatively poor emotional health (score=2.59), social health (score=2.5) and financial health (score=1.97). Objectives Impact of global economic crisis on the health and well-being of laid-off automobile industry workers in Durham, Canada.Emma Bartfay, Wally Bartfay, Terry WuUniversity of Ontario Institute of Technology, Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. Our findings indicate that job loss has a wide range of negative and immediate effects on auto-workers and their families involving a complex entanglement of emotional, physical, social and financial health. We observe that resources available to individuals after job loss were often limited. Our study also provides a better understanding of financial constraints and individuals' perceived health care and services needs. Methods Results Conclusions