BackgroundWork disability is a major personal, financial and public health burden. Predicting future work success is a major focus of research.ObjectivesTo identify common prognostic factors for return-to-work across different health and injury conditions and to describe their association with return-to-work outcomes.MethodsMedline, Embase, PsychINFO, Cinahl, and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and the grey literature were searched from January 1, 2004 to September 1, 2013. Systematic reviews addressing return-to-work in various conditions and injuries were selected. Eligible studies were critically appraised using the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network criteria to identify low risk of bias reviews.ResultsOf the 36,193 titles screened and the 94 eligible studies reviewed, 56 systematic reviews were accepted as low risk of bias. Over half of these focused on musculoskeletal disorders, which were primarily spine related (e.g., neck and low back pain). The other half of studies assessed workers with mental health or cardiovascular conditions, stroke, cancer, multiple sclerosis or other non-specified health conditions. Many factors have been assessed, but few consistently across conditions. Common factors associated with positive return-to-work outcomes were higher education and socioeconomic status, higher self-efficacy and optimistic expectations for recovery and return-to-work, lower severity of the injury/illness, return-to-work coordination, and multidisciplinary interventions that include the workplace and stakeholders. Common factors associated with negative return-to-work outcomes were older age, being female, higher pain or disability, depression, higher physical work demands, previous sick leave and unemployment, and activity limitations.ConclusionsExpectations of recovery and return-to-work, pain and disability levels, depression, workplace factors, and access to multidisciplinary resources are important modifiable factors in progressing return-to-work across health and injury conditions. Employers, healthcare providers and other stakeholders can use this information to facilitate return-to-work for injured/ill workers regardless of the specific injury or illness. Future studies should investigate novel interventions, and other factors that may be common across health conditions.

Objectives Much is known about the demands of caregiving for persons with dementia (PWD) and its effects on family caregivers, however sex and gender aspects have received less attention. We synthesized the evidence on sex and gender distinctions in: (1) the caregiving burden and (2) the impact of caregiving on the physical and mental health of family caregivers of PWD. Design Systematic review.

Objective:The objective of this study was to identify the cognitive symptoms that HCPs find difficult to manage in dementia patients, and the strategies that they report using when patients exhibit these symptoms. Subjects and Methods: One hundred thirty-three HCPs (ie, nurses, therapists, dieticians, social workers) in 7 GRUs in Ontario, Canada, completed a questionnaire focused on the frequency of cognitive symptoms that persons with dementia experienced after hip fracture surgery and on the strategies HCPs used to manage these symptoms. Results: The data collected indicate that HCPs perceived patients' memory impairment, lack of insight, and lack of ability to carry out purposeful movement to be the main symptoms that interfere with their ability to rehabilitate patients. Fifty percent of nursing staff and 100% of allied HCPs listed strategies they used when patients exhibited these cognitive symptoms. Strategies staff used when patients displayed cognitive symptoms included providing visual and verbal reminders, adjusting the environment and routines, and offering consistent routines and supervision. Conclusions: The findings from this study indicate that HCPs on GRUs caring for patients with cognitive impairment who have had a hip fracture frequently encounter cognitive symptoms that hinder their care delivery. Rehabilitation staff require knowledge about how to assess patients for the presence of cognitive symptoms and about strategies for dealing with these symptoms when they are present.