scholarly journals The structure of occupational health nurses' support for return-to-work to workers with depression

2016 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 109-117
Author(s):  
Junko Hatanaka
Author(s):  
Liam Noll ◽  
Adrian Mallows ◽  
Jason Moran

Abstract Objective The aim was to provide a consensus tasks needed to be included in a return to work assessment for operational firefighters. Methods A two round online Delphi study was conducted with twenty-four participants including firefighters, service fitness advisers and occupational health managers. A consensus was set at 70% agreement. In round one, participants completed an online survey relating to tasks to be included during a return to work assessment for firefighters following an injury. Round two was an online consensus meeting to discuss the tasks where consensus was not achieved. Results A consensus was reached for ten of the thirteen tasks, including the number of repetitions required when lifting a light portable pump and climbing a ladder. A consensus was reached for the total distance equipment which should be carried. This included carrying a ladder, a hose and a light portable pump. Conclusions This study has provided a consensus for tasks to be included when assessing a firefighter for return to work. Further research is needed to understand how to use this assessment optimally


2019 ◽  
pp. 229-261
Author(s):  
Tony Williams ◽  
Neil Pearce

Occupational health professionals frequently advise about return to work after surgery. Providing advice can be challenging, and considerable misunderstanding exists among patients and clinicians. One patient may return to work 1 week after a hysterectomy while another is absent for 5 months. Advice on returning to work after surgery should be based on knowledge of tissue healing processes, along with adverse effects of smoking and obesity, perioperative infection, and co-morbidity. Medical issues are often confounded by inconsistent advice, inappropriate beliefs, and unhelpful motivators. There is a recognized limitation in the evidence base. However, consensus is available from a number of guidelines drawn up by various expert bodies, which are covered in this chapter.


2019 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 87-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristin D. Ashley ◽  
Loretta T. Lee ◽  
Karen Heaton

Despite improvements in the treatment of stroke, many individuals still face cognitive, emotional, and physical impairments. Stroke is a leading cause of serious long-term disability and subsequent failure to return to work (RTW). The purpose of this literature review was to synthesize and discuss the literature relevant to factors affecting RTW for stroke survivors, summarize the identified gaps, and discuss steps occupational health nurses can take to facilitate RTW among stroke survivors. A literature search was conducted using the keywords: “stroke,” “cerebrovascular disease,” “return to work,” and “employment.” After excluding articles based on inclusion/exclusion criteria, 19 quantitative research articles were reviewed. Consistent themes found in the literature affecting RTW following stroke included physical, social, and cognitive factors. One of the most consistent predictors of RTW found was stroke severity. Individuals who experienced a mild to moderate stroke, those of Caucasian ethnicity, and higher socioeconomic levels were more likely to RTW. Findings suggest the importance of future studies to examine factors among African American stroke survivors that predict RTW and the role of occupational health nurses.


2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Ståhl ◽  
Allan Toomingas ◽  
Carl Åborg ◽  
Kerstin Ekberg ◽  
Katarina Kjellberg

Author(s):  
Jong-Uk Won

Background: The length of hospital stay among occupationally injured workers was too long comparing to national health insurance patients in Korea. Also return-to-work rate was low comparing to other countries. The Korea Workers’ Compensation & Welfare (COMWEL) has tried to upgrade the quality of care workers’ compensation contract hospitals since several years. One of the tries was to evaluate the workers’ compensation contract hospitals. However, many hospitals argued the appropriateness of the hospital evaluation.Objectives: This study was performed to evaluate the appropriateness of the workers’ compensation contract hospital evaluation.Methods: The total number of 500 hospitals was selected to evaluate among about 5,500 contracts hospitals according to their size or the number of occupationally injured patients. The main evaluation items were hospital facilities and equipment, health personnel, including doctors, record keeping, appropriateness of hospital care, outcomes, including return-to-work, length of hospital stay, satisfaction, etc. Multiple logistic regression was performed to evaluate the appropriateness of the results of this hospital evaluation. The dependent variables were return-to-work rate and length of hospital stay and independent variables were severity of injured workers, disability rate, company size, etc.Results: The hospitals were classified three categories according to the evaluation score; high, middle, and low quality. The return-to-work rate of high-quality hospitals was significantly higher (odds ratio 1.81; CI 1.27 – 2.58) than others. However, the length of hospital stay was not different among them.Conclusion: Return-to-work rate is one of the useful indicators for evaluating the occupational health care. Even though these are preliminary results, this evaluation method for the occupational health care hospitals would be appropriate for the purpose. The more specific analysis should be needed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (12) ◽  
pp. 1-94
Author(s):  
Vaughan Parsons ◽  
Dorota Juszczyk ◽  
Gill Gilworth ◽  
Georgia Ntani ◽  
Paul McCrone ◽  
...  

Background The NHS is the biggest employer in the UK. Depression and anxiety are common reasons for sickness absence among staff. Evidence suggests that an intervention based on a case management model using a biopsychosocial approach could be cost-effective and lead to earlier return to work for staff with common mental health disorders. Objective The objective was to assess the feasibility and acceptability of conducting a trial of the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of an early occupational health referral and case management intervention to facilitate the return to work of NHS staff on sick leave with any common mental health disorder (e.g. depression or anxiety). Design A multicentre mixed-methods feasibility study with embedded process evaluation and economic analyses. The study comprised an updated systematic review, survey of care as usual, and development of an intervention in consultation with key stakeholders. Although this was not a randomised controlled trial, the study design comprised two arms where participants received either the intervention or care as usual. Participants Participants were NHS staff on sick leave for 7 or more consecutive days but less than 90 consecutive days, with a common mental health disorder. Intervention The intervention involved early referral to occupational health combined with standardised work-focused case management. Control/comparator Participants in the control arm received care as usual. Primary outcome The primary outcome was the feasibility and acceptability of the intervention, study processes (including methods of recruiting participants) and data collection tools to measure return to work, episodes of sickness absence, workability (a worker’s functional ability to perform their job), occupational functioning, symptomatology and cost-effectiveness proposed for use in a main trial. Results Forty articles and two guidelines were included in an updated systematic review. A total of 49 of the 126 (39%) occupational health providers who were approached participated in a national survey of care as usual. Selected multidisciplinary stakeholders contributed to the development of the work-focused case management intervention (including a training workshop). Six NHS trusts (occupational health departments) agreed to take part in the study, although one trust withdrew prior to participant recruitment, citing staff shortages. At mixed intervention sites, participants were sequentially allocated to each arm, where possible. Approximately 1938 (3.9%) NHS staff from the participating sites were on sick leave with a common mental health disorder during the study period. Forty-two sick-listed NHS staff were screened for eligibility on receipt of occupational health management referrals. Twenty-four (57%) participants were consented: 11 (46%) received the case management intervention and 13 (54%) received care as usual. Follow-up data were collected from 11 out of 24 (46%) participants at 3 months and 10 out of 24 (42%) participants at 6 months. The case management intervention and case manager training were found to be acceptable and inexpensive to deliver. Possible contamination issues are likely in a future trial if participants are individually randomised at mixed intervention sites. Harms No adverse events were reported. Limitations The method of identification and recruitment of eligible sick-listed staff was ineffective in practice because uptake of referral to occupational health was low, but a new targeted method has been devised. Conclusion All study questions were addressed. Difficulties raising organisational awareness of the study coupled with a lack of change in occupational health referral practices by line managers affected the identification and recruitment of participants. Strategies to overcome these barriers in a main trial were identified. The case management intervention was fit for purpose and acceptable to deliver in the NHS. Trial registration Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN14621901. Funding This project was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment programme and will be published in full in Health Technology Assessment; Vol. 25, No. 12. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information.


Kuntoutus ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 5-20
Author(s):  
Sanna Pesonen ◽  
Pirjo Juvonen-Posti ◽  
Hanna-Leena Ristimäki ◽  
Elina Weiste ◽  
Inka Koskela ◽  
...  

Eri toimijoiden välisen yhteistoimijuuden on todettu edesauttavan työuravaikutusten syntymistä. Työterveysneuvottelu on tärkeä työntekijän, työpaikan, työterveyshuollon yhteistyön ja kuntoutuksen yhteistyöfoorumi. Sen tavoitteena on tukea työntekijän työssä jatkamista ja työurien pidentymistä. Tässä artikkelissa tarkastellaan yhteistoimijuuden ilmenemisen tapoja sekä sen toteutumisen esteitä työterveysneuvottelussa. Tutkimus oli moniaineistoinen monitapaustutkimus. Neljäntoista tapauksen aineiston muodostivat työterveysneuvotteluun osallistuvien ennakkokysely ja neuvottelun jälkeinen haastattelu, neuvottelun videotaltiointi, neuvottelun muistio sekä kyseisen työpaikan työkyvyn tuen kirjalliset mallit. Moninäkökulmainen aineisto kerättiin neuvotteluun osallistuneelta työntekijältä, esihenkilöltä ja työterveyslääkäriltä sekä videotaltioinnin osalta kaikilta neuvotteluun osallistuneilta. Aineisto analysoitiin sisällön- ja keskustelunanalyysillä. Yhteistoimijuus ilmeni institutionaalisena, emotionaalisena, kommunikatiivisena ja supportiivisena ulottuvuutena. Institutionaalinen ulottuvuus ilmeni esimerkiksi toimijoiden roolien selkeytenä, emotionaalinen ulottuvuus kuulluksi tulemisena, kommunikatiivinen ulottuvuus yhteisenä päätöksentekona ja supportiivinen työntekijän tukemisena. Yhteistoimijuuden toteutumista estivät epäselvyys eri toimijoiden rooleista ja yhteisen näkemyksen tai yhteisen päätöksenteon puuttuminen. Kestävän työhönpaluun onnistumiseksi työntekijän toimijuutta tulisi tukea yhteistoimijuuden keinoin. Yhteistoimijuuden rakentumisen kannalta keskeistä oli tunnistaa työterveysneuvottelutilanne julkiseksi neuvotteluksi. Abstract Multi-actor shared agency at joint negotiations on the employee’s return-to-work Collaboration between workplace, health care and rehabilitation actors has been shown to contribute to the working career impact. Joint negotiations on the employee’s return-to-work solutions is one key forum for co-operation between an employee, workplace’s actors, and actors of occupational health care and rehabilitation services. The aim of this collaboration is to support job retention and to prolong working careers. This article discusses which forms of multi-actor shared agency took place and what kind of obstacles to collaboration were found in the joint negotiations on the employee’s return-to-work. The study was a multiperspective, multi-data study on multiple, altogether 14 joint negotiation, cases. Data on each case consisted of the questionnaire collected before the negotiation, the video-recorded data of the joint negotiation, three interviews after the negotiation, the negotiation memo and the workplace’s model of work ability support. The questionnaires and interviews were collected from employees, supervisors and occupational health physicians and video-recorded data was collected from all participants in the joint negotiation. The data was analyzed by a multidisciplinary research team with content and discussion analysis. Multi-actor shared agency was definable to institutional, emotional, communicative and supportive dimensions. New institutional dimension included elements of clarity of the roles of the actors. The emotional dimension included experiences of being heard and of confidentiality. The communicative dimension included elements of collaborative decision-making, and last, the supportive dimension included elements of employee’s support. The lack of clarity regarding the roles of the various actors, secondly, the lack of a shared target and collaborative decision-making prevented the realization of the multi-actor shared agency. In order to succeed in returning to work, the employee's agency should be supported by the multi-actor shared agency means. It was essential for the multi-actor shared agency to recognize that negotiations with workplace actors on return to work are held, instead of internal health care platforms, in a public platform. Keywords: agency, multi-actor shared agency, collaboration, work-related rehabilitation, joint negotiation, returning to work, vocational rehabilitation, occupational health care, multiple case study, qualitative research


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