Insurance workers' and physiotherapists' perceptions of their roles in the management of workers with injuries in the Western Australian workers' compensation system

Employees with mental disorders seeking support from the workers compensation system - experiences from Denmark

BACKGROUND

In Europe it is commonly accepted that psychosocial hazards may influence the mental health of employees. However, mental disorders such as depression are generally not acknowledged as an occupational disease covered by the workers compensation system. Studies indicate that workers compensation claim processes may affect employee's health negatively due to a demanding case process. If filing a workers' compensation claim can harm the employees' health, it is highly relevant to pay attention to employees with mental health claims, as they are most likely vulnerable and face a very low chance of compensation.

OBJECTIVE

This study investigates how employees with work-related mental disorders experience the process of seeking workers compensation from the Danish Workers' Compensation System.

METHOD

Interview (N = 13) and questionnaire (N = 436) data from claimants were analysed.

RESULTS

Analysis showed that even though many employees wished for the claim to influence the conditions at the workplace, there seemed to be a lack of preventive health and safety initiatives in the workplaces. Central stakeholders such as health and safety representatives were often not involved. Management involvement was often experienced negatively, and the Danish Working Environment Authority rarely conducted workplace inspections. Employees experienced inadequate information about the workers' compensation process and experienced a lack of coordination between stakeholders.

CONCLUSION

A more supportive and coordinated approach in the Workers' Compensation System is recommendable. The processes in the system could be evaluated using the Social Insurance Literacy concept, to ensure sufficient support of the claimants and reduce potential harmful aspects of the process.

Competencies for Physiotherapists Working to Facilitate Rehabilitation, Work Participation and Return to Work for Workers with Musculoskeletal Disorders: A Scoping Review

Purpose The aim of this scoping review was to synthesize the literature addressing the competencies that physiotherapists in a clinical setting need to facilitate the rehabilitation, work participation, and return to work of workers with musculoskeletal disorders.Methods We conducted a scoping review in accordance with Arksey & O'Malley's five-step method. The following categories of keywords were used during searches in Embase, Medline and CINAHL in May 2020: (1) physiotherapy/physical therapy; (2) return to work, work participation or occupational health; and (3) education/professional competencies/guidelines. Two authors reviewed the full-text papers and agreed on the selection of articles for inclusion. The selected articles were then charted in an Excel grid and descriptively analyzed.Results Three main categories of competencies were identified: (1) Understanding and interacting with patients who are workers; (2) Planning rehabilitation with other stakeholders; and (3) Reaching out to the workplace. The fourth category named "Obstacles to the development of work-related competencies", regroups several obstacles that were identified as potentially impeding the development of work-related competencies by physiotherapists.Conclusion The findings of this scoping review inform physiotherapy clinicians, educators and regulators on the specific knowledge, skills, abilities, and attitudes that appear to play a role in facilitating the rehabilitation of workers with musculoskeletal disorders. We trust that this study will lead to new initiatives that will define, implement and evaluate the effectiveness of these competencies in practice, along with rekindling the discussions about the place of work rehabilitation in the physiotherapy profession.