Representations: an important key to understanding workers' coping behaviors during rehabilitation and the return-to-work process

Exploring the return-to-work process in working people with serious mental illness

BACKGROUND

Few studies examined the return-to-work (RTW) process in working people after recovery from serious mental illness (SMI).

PURPOSE

The RTW process was explored in working people with SMI.

METHOD

A qualitative study was conducted using the grounded theory. Twenty seven interviews were analyzed using Corbin and Strauss's approach (2015).

RESULTS

The core category "syncing with an ordinary workstream" emerged with three categories: "proceeding RTW strategies," "staying at work strategies," and "relative adaptation with work."

CONCLUSION

"Syncing with an ordinary workstream" can help researchers develop a new practice model to facilitate the RTW process in working people with SMI.

The Quebec Questionnaire of Representations related to Work Disability (QRWoD): Cross-cultural adaptation, validity and reliability in French chronic low back pain workers

BACKGROUND

Addressing chronic low back pain (cLBP) from the point of view of representation allows better understanding the behaviors associated with it and thus improve its medical and socio-occupational management. The Quebec Questionnaire of Representations related to Work Disability (QRWoD) proposes an evaluation of 9 dimensions of the cLBP-related representation.

OBJECTIVE

To translate and adapt the QRoWD to French language and assess its validity and reliability in French cLBP workers on prolonged sick leave.

METHODS

A prospective study was conducted from March 2017 to April 2018 in the Department of occupational health of the University Hospital of Angers, France. The QRWoD is a self-administered questionnaire (87 items) which assesses Identity, Acute/Chronic duration, Consequences, Personal Control, Treatment Control, Cyclical Timeline, Coherence, Emotional Representation and Causes dimensions. The Internal consistency (Cronbach's α) and the convergent validity (Pearson correlations) in comparison to validated instruments for each dimension were assed.

RESULTS

Fifty French workers (29 men, 43 ± 9.1 years, 293.6 ± 173.0 days of work absence) were included. The internal consistency (all α> 0.7) and the convergent validity (all r2> 0.25, p< 0.01) of each dimension were very satisfactory except for the Cyclical Timeline dimension.

CONCLUSIONS

The French version of the QRoWD seems to be valid and relevant among the target population.

Identifying Return to Work Perception in People With Serious Mental Illness: A Qualitative Study

The current qualitative study sought to identify return to work (RTW) perception among people with serious mental illness (SMI) referred to a psychiatric hospital affiliated with Hamadan University of Medical Sciences. In total, 24 individuals were recruited, including working people with SMI, families, employers, and mental health team members who participated in in-depth, semi-structured interviews. Forty interviews were conducted. Interviews were analyzed based on the conventional content analysis approach. Accordingly, two themes were found, including The Need to Continue Working and Flexible and Supportive Strategies. The first theme included two categories: personal obligations and socioeconomic necessities. The second theme included three categories: coping with mental illness, requesting support from others, and coping with work conditions. Findings revealed that the need to continue working has a significant effect on RTW perception among people with SMI. [Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, xx(xx), xx-xx.].

Beneficial and limiting factors in return to work after primary total knee replacement: Patients' perspective

BACKGROUND:

Return to work (RTW) is an important outcome in Total Knee Arthroplasty (TKA). At present, 70–80%of TKA patients return to work within three to six months.

OBJECTIVE:

What are patients’ perspectives regarding beneficial and limiting factors in RTW after TKA?

METHODS:

Focus groups were formed in accordance with the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research (COREQ) checklist. Three major topics were explored: 1. What was beneficial for RTW after TKA; 2. What was limiting for RTW after TKA; and 3. What additional care would benefit RTW after TKA?

RESULTS:

Data saturation was reached after four focus groups, comprising 17 participants—nine men and eight women (median age 58, range 52–65). The focus group study identified four main themes that contributed to a successful RTW namely rehabilitation (medical) like post-operative physical therapy, patient characteristics (personal), like motivation to RTW, occupational characteristics (work-related) like build-up in work tasks and medical support (medical) like availability of a walker or crutches.

CONCLUSION:

According to participants, factors within the following four themes can contribute to a successful return to work: occupational, patient, rehabilitation and medical care. Incorporating these factors into the integrated care pathway for the “young” TKA patients may increase the chances of a successful RTW.

Social representations of chronic pain in newspapers, online media, and film

Social representation theory provides a framework for studying how scientific knowledge affects common sense and communication through inquiries into everyday discourse. This qualitative study examined social representations of chronic pain from 4 sources: North American newspapers; "Chronic Illness Cat" memes from the social media web site, Pinterest; video blogs on YouTube; and from a 2014 film, Cake, and interviews and comments concerning it. Using thematic analysis, we first identified social representations found in our 4 sources and others found in 1 or 2 of them. Second, we analyzed the sources for their rhetorical intentions. Vlogs directly and memes indirectly were first-person accounts, self-authorizing statements of the truth of chronic pain, whereas newspaper articles and the film were third-person accounts of pain, the differences between these perspectives affecting what was said. We conclude that the medium shapes the message.

Fear of (re)injury and return to work following compensable injury: qualitative insights from key stakeholders in Victoria, Australia

BACKGROUND

Return to work (RTW) is important for recovery post-injury. Fear of (re)injury is a strong predictor of delayed RTW, and therefore much attention has been given to addressing injured workers' fear beliefs. However, RTW is a socially-negotiated process and it may be important to consider the wider social context of the injured worker, including the beliefs of the key people involved in their RTW journey.

METHODS

This paper involves data collected as part of a wider study in which semi-structured interviews explored RTW from the perspectives of 93 key stakeholders: injured workers, GPs, employers and insurance case managers in Victoria, Australia. Inductive analysis of interview transcripts identified fear of (re)injury as a salient theme across all stakeholder groups. This presented an opportunity to analyse how the wider social context of the injured worker may influence fear and avoidance behaviour. Two co-authors performed inductive analysis of the theme 'fear of (re)injury'. Codes identified in the data were grouped into five categories. Between and within category analysis revealed three themes describing the contextual factors that may influence fear avoidance and RTW behaviour.

RESULTS

Theme one described how injured workers engaged in a process of weighing up the risk of (re)injury in the workplace against the perceived benefits of RTW. Theme two described how workplace factors could influence an injured workers' perception of the risk of (re)injury in the workplace, including confidence that the source of the injury had been addressed, the availability and suitability of alternative duties. Theme three described other stakeholders' reluctance to accept injured workers back at work because of the fear that they might reinjure themselves.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings illustrate the need for a contextualised perspective of fear avoidance and RTW behaviour that includes the beliefs of other important people surrounding the injured worker (e.g. employers, family members, GPs). Existing models of health behaviour such as The Health Beliefs Model may provide useful frameworks for interventions targeting the affective, cognitive, social, organisational and policy factors that can influence fear avoidance or facilitate RTW following injury.

Promoting a Shared Representation of Workers' Activities to Improve Integrated Prevention of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders

Effective and sustainable prevention of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WR-MSDs) remains a challenge for preventers and policy makers. Coordination of stakeholders involved in the prevention of WR-MSDs is a key factor that requires greater reflection on common knowledge and shared representation of workers' activities among stakeholders. Information on workers' strategies and operational leeway should be the core of common representations, because it places workers at the center of the "work situation system" considered by the intervention models. Participatory ergonomics permitting debates among stakeholders about workers' activity and strategies to cope with the work constraints in practice could help them to share representations of the "work situation system" and cooperate. Sharing representation therefore represents a useful tool for prevention, and preventers should provide sufficient space and time for dialogue and discussion of workers' activities among stakeholders during the conception, implementation, and management of integrated prevention programs.

How patients' representations of cystic fibrosis-related diabetes inform their health behaviours

BACKGROUND

Although diabetes is a frequent complication of cystic fibrosis (CF), patients' behaviours tend not to comply with best practice recommendations. Using Leventhal's Common-Sense Model, we address this issue by exploring patients' representations of CF-related diabetes (CFRD) to better understand the discrepancy between patients' expected and observed health behaviours.

METHODS

Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with patients (n = 39) in six CF clinics in Quebec, Canada. These interviews were part of a larger research project on screening and management practices for CFRD.

RESULTS

Illness representations differed between two groups of interviewed patients: (1) one group had either CF without dysglycemia or CF with impaired glucose tolerance; and (2) the other group had CFRD. Both representations were internally consistent and encompassed Leventhal's five dimensions of illness representation: illness identity, cause, timeline, consequences and control.

CONCLUSIONS

Patients require specific information on CFRD. The screening phase could be a crucial time to help patients adjust their representations to fit the reality of CFRD.

How do workers with common mental disorders experience a multidisciplinary return-to-work intervention? A qualitative study

PURPOSE

Long-term sick leave due to common mental disorders (CMD) is an increasing problem in many countries. Recent reviews indicate that return to work (RTW) interventions have limited effect on reducing sickness absence among this group of sick-listed. The aims of this study were to investigate how sick-listed persons with CMD experienced participating in an RTW intervention and how workability assessments and RTW activities influenced their RTW-process, and to examine the working mechanisms of the intervention. The gained knowledge can help improve future RTW intervention design and implementation.

METHODS

In-depth interviews were conducted with 17 participants on sick leave due to CMD who participated in an RTW intervention. Interviews were conducted at three time points with each participant. Principles of interpretative phenomenological analyses guided the analysis.

RESULTS

The workability assessment consultations and RTW activities such as psychoeducative group sessions and individual sessions with psychologist could result in both motivation and frustration depending on the extent to which the RTW professionals practiced what we have termed an individual approach to the sick-listed person.

CONCLUSIONS

The individual approach seems necessary for the realization of the positive potential in the RTW intervention. However, the fact that RTW professionals are both the facilitators and the controllers of the sick-listed persons' RTW process is an inherent paradox in the intervention, which can impede the necessary establishment of a high-quality relationship between the sick-listed persons and RTW professionals.

Predicting non return to work after orthopaedic trauma: the Wallis Occupational Rehabilitation RisK (WORRK) model

Background

Workers with persistent disabilities after orthopaedic trauma may need occupational rehabilitation. Despite various risk profiles for non-return-to-work (non-RTW), there is no available predictive model. Moreover, injured workers may have various origins (immigrant workers), which may either affect their return to work or their eligibility for research purposes. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a predictive model that estimates the likelihood of non-RTW after occupational rehabilitation using predictors which do not rely on the worker’s background.

Methods

Prospective cohort study (3177 participants, native (51%) and immigrant workers (49%)) with two samples: a) Development sample with patients from 2004 to 2007 with Full and Reduced Models, b) External validation of the Reduced Model with patients from 2008 to March 2010. We collected patients’ data and biopsychosocial complexity with an observer rated interview (INTERMED). Non-RTW was assessed two years after discharge from the rehabilitation. Discrimination was assessed by the area under the receiver operating curve (AUC) and calibration was evaluated with a calibration plot. The model was reduced with random forests.

Results

At 2 years, the non-RTW status was known for 2462 patients (77.5% of the total sample). The prevalence of non-RTW was 50%. The full model (36 items) and the reduced model (19 items) had acceptable discrimination performance (AUC 0.75, 95% CI 0.72 to 0.78 and 0.74, 95% CI 0.71 to 0.76, respectively) and good calibration. For the validation model, the discrimination performance was acceptable (AUC 0.73; 95% CI 0.70 to 0.77) and calibration was also adequate.

Conclusions

Non-RTW may be predicted with a simple model constructed with variables independent of the patient’s education and language fluency. This model is useful for all kinds of trauma in order to adjust for case mix and it is applicable to vulnerable populations like immigrant workers.

Clinician-patient agreement about the work disability problem of patients having persistent pain: why it matters

BACKGROUND

Studies from different fields documenting the differences between clinicians' and workers' representations have not elucidated where the differences exist or how they can be resolved.

PURPOSE

To define and describe scenarios depicting the differences between clinical judgment, workers' representations about their disability and clinicians' interpretations of these representations.

METHODS

A multiple case-study design was used. Semi-structured prospective interviews were conducted at four points in time, with five clinicians managing 12 cases of workers having persistent pain and participating in an evidence-based work rehabilitation program.

RESULTS

Four scenarios depicting differences in representations were found, but not all the differences necessarily had a negative impact on the program outcomes. For the clinicians, clear identification of the problem was important to allow for the use of concrete, pragmatic strategies. For the workers, congruence between the proposed strategy and their representations was crucial.

CONCLUSION

During rehabilitation, the objectives must be acceptable to both parties or the proposed strategy must, at least, make sense to the patient.

Intercultural communication in health care: challenges and solutions in work rehabilitation practices and training: a comprehensive review

PURPOSE

The purpose of this comprehensive literature review it to explore cross-cultural issues in occupational rehabilitation and work disability prevention.

METHOD

A literature review on cross-cultural issues was performed in medicine, health sciences, and social sciences databases (PubMed, Ingenta, Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, Ergonomics Abstract, Google Scholar, OSH Update and the Quebec Workers' Compensation Board data base). A total of 27 documents published until 2010 in English or French were selected and analyzed.

RESULTS

Cross-cultural issues in occupational rehabilitation show that representations of pain, communication and therapist-patient relationship and intercultural competence could be presented as the major topics covered in the selected literature. As for the general topic of immigrant workers and OSH, barriers were identified revealing personal, relational, contextual and structural levels that put immigrant and minority workers in situation of vulnerability (ex. linguistic and cultural barriers, lack of knowledge of the system, precarious work or exposition to higher risk hazards, etc.). Cultural issues in occupational rehabilitation put less attention to work-related contextual factors but emphasized on attitude and pain behaviours, perceptions of illness and appropriate treatment, therapist-patient relationship and cultural competences among OT professionals.

CONCLUSIONS

The growth of immigration in countries such as Canada poses a real challenge to the delivery of health care and rehabilitation services. Despite growing concerns in providing culturally appropriate heath cares, intervention models, tools and training tools are still lacking in occupational rehabilitation and disability management. Nevertheless, cultural competence seems to be a promising concept to be implemented in work rehabilitation and disability management.

Health and illness representations of workers with a musculoskeletal disorder-related work disability during work rehabilitation: a qualitative study

INTRODUCTION

Distinctions between disease and illness have been criticized for being too theoretical. In practice, however, it may help explain gaps in understanding and miscommunication between health care professionals and patients/injured workers, since each has their own perception of reality. To reduce the gap between health care professionals and patients in understanding the definition of disease, this paper documents general representations of health, illness and work-related musculoskeletal disorders and their influence on the work rehabilitation program.

METHODS

A qualitative methodology was used. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 participants (male, female) recruited when they were starting an intensive interdisciplinary work rehabilitation program for chronic pain due to a musculoskeletal disorder. Interviews were performed at three points during the program and 1 month after discharge.

RESULTS

First, participants described health and illness in terms of: (1) illness prototype; (2) the absence or presence of symptoms; (3) physical health and capacities; (4) engaging in a healthy lifestyle; (5) maintaining independence; (6) preserving mental well-being; and (7) healing from accidents or injuries. A second observation was that rehabilitation success depended on workers transitioning from a less mechanistic to a more functional view of health.

CONCLUSION

This study highlights the importance of identifying and acknowledging workers' health, illness and WRMSD representations to facilitate their return to work.

Exploring the return-to-work process for workers partially returned to work and partially on long-term sick leave due to common mental disorders: a qualitative study

PURPOSE

We conducted a qualitative study into the return-to-work process of workers partially on sick leave due to common mental disorders. Our objectives were to describe the barriers to a full return to work, solutions, communicating to the working environment and the aim of a full return to work, all as perceived by the workers.

METHOD

Workers who had partially returned to work and were partially on long-term sick leave due to a stress-related, anxiety or depressive disorder were eligible for this study. Fourteen workers were interviewed and the interviews were transcribed verbatim and coded.

RESULTS

The perceived main barriers were: inability to set limits, recognise exhaustion and to control cognitions and behaviour such as perfectionism. A general pattern in the process was that all workers perceived barriers to a full return to work; most workers were able to mention solutions; all workers aimed for a full return to work, and after some time all workers were met with sufficient understanding and social support from their supervisor and health care professional. However, hardly any worker intended to implement or utilise the solutions at the workplace, except the structural adaptations of the work demands.

CONCLUSIONS

The pattern we found suggests a critical intention-behaviour gap between solutions and intentions for a full return to work and its implementation at work. This implies that we should develop new interventions that focus on helping workers and their environment to bridge this gap.

Back pain and work

Low back pain is a leading cause of work disability and constitutes a significant socioeconomic burden worldwide. In an attempt to stem the serious consequences of long-term disability, a new approach for back pain in primary care is being disseminated. It mainly focusses on identifying the relationship between pain/disability and work, recognising important workplace and psychosocial issues, providing patients reassuring messages about activity, facilitating the return to work process and engaging other resources as needed. This article examines current expert opinion and available evidence on work issues for effective back pain management. In general, return to work, if safe, is beneficial for recovery and well-being. Some cases might require physicians to actively communicate with employers, claims managers and others in order to achieve safe and sustained return to work, while in most instances, simple efforts to identify and discuss work issues directly with the patient can lead to better work outcomes.

"My lung disease won't go away, it's there to stay": profiles of adaptation to functional limitations in workers with asthma and COPD

PURPOSE

Earlier research has shown that adaptation (i.e., the way in which employees cope with limitations resulting from their disease) is associated with sick leave. Our aim was to investigate signs of adequate or inadequate adaptation in employees with asthma and COPD.

METHODS

A Q-methodological study was carried out among 34 workers with asthma or COPD.

RESULTS

Four adaptation profiles were distinguished: the eager, the adjusted, the cautious, and the worried workers. The adaptation profiles provide insight into the different ways in which workers with asthma and COPD cope with their illness at work.

CONCLUSIONS

The adaptation profiles serve as a starting point for the design of appropriate (occupational) care. The eager workers experience little difficulties at work; the cautious workers may need assistance in learning how to accept their disease; the worried workers need reassurance, and may need reactivation; the adjusted workers deserve extra attention, and, when necessary, advice on how to live with their asthma or COPD.

Development of a screening tool predicting the transition from acute to chronic low back pain for patients in a GP setting: protocol of a multinational prospective cohort study

BACKGROUND

Low back pain (LBP) is by far the most prevalent and costly musculoskeletal problem in our society today. Following the recommendations of the Multinational Musculoskeletal Inception Cohort Study (MMICS) Statement, our study aims to define outcome assessment tools for patients with acute LBP and the time point at which chronic LBP becomes manifest and to identify patient characteristics which increase the risk of chronicity.

METHODS

Patients with acute LBP will be recruited from clinics of general practitioners (GPs) in New Zealand (NZ) and Switzerland (CH). They will be assessed by postal survey at baseline and at 3, 6, 12 weeks and 6 months follow-up. Primary outcome will be disability as measured by the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI); key secondary endpoints will be general health as measured by the acute SF-12 and pain as measured on the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). A subgroup analysis of different assessment instruments and baseline characteristics will be performed using multiple linear regression models. This study aims to examine: 1. Which biomedical, psychological, social, and occupational outcome assessment tools are identifiers for the transition from acute to chronic LBP and at which time point this transition becomes manifest. 2. Which psychosocial and occupational baseline characteristics like work status and period of work absenteeism influence the course from acute to chronic LBP. 3. Differences in outcome assessment tools and baseline characteristics of patients in NZ compared with CH.

DISCUSSION

This study will develop a screening tool for patients with acute LBP to be used in GP clinics to access the risk of developing chronic LBP. In addition, biomedical, psychological, social, and occupational patient characteristics which influence the course from acute to chronic LBP will be identified. Furthermore, an appropriate time point for follow-ups will be given to detect this transition. The generalizability of our findings will be enhanced by the international perspective of this study.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

[Clinical Trial Registration Number, ACTRN12608000520336].

A review of assessment tools of illness representations: are these adapted for a work disability prevention context?

INTRODUCTION

Musculoskeletal disorders are among the main causes of short- and long-term disability.

AIM

Identify the methods for assessing multidimensional components of illness representations.

METHODS

An electronic literature search (French, English) from 1980 to the present was conducted in medical, paramedical and social science databases using predetermined key words. After screening titles and abstracts based on a specific set of criteria, sixty-four articles were reviewed.

RESULTS

Qualitative approaches for assessing illness representation were found mainly in the fields of anthropology and sociology and were based on the explanatory models of illness. The interviews reviewed were: the Short Explanatory Model Interview, the Explanatory Model of Illness Catalogue and the McGill Illness Narrative Interview. Quantitative approaches were found in the health psychology field and used the following self-administered questionnaires: the Survey of Pain Attitudes, the Pain Beliefs and Perceptions Inventory, the Pain Beliefs Questionnaire, the Fear-Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire, the Implicit Model of Illness Questionnaire, the Illness Perception Questionnaire, including its derivatives, and the Illness Cognition Questionnaire.

CONCLUSION

This review shows the actual use and existence of multiple interviews and questionnaires in assessing multidimensional illness representations. All have been used and/or tested in a medical context but none have been tested in a work disability context. Further research will be needed to determine their suitability for use in a work disability context.