An exploratory study of the injured worker’s experience and relationship with the workplace return to work coordinator in NSW, Australia

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into the injured worker’s perspective of experiences with their workplace return to work coordinator (RTWC), and explore some of the barriers they encountered in the return to work process. Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten injured workers from New South Wales, Australia. The thematic analysis of transcripts was completed. Findings The findings provide an insight into the experiences of injured workers and their relationship with RTWCs. Five key themes emerged from the data: return to work experiences and the RTWC role, high turnover and lack of consistency in the role, RTWC “ideal”, knowledge and skills, communication skills and the RTWC role and GP visits privacy and conflict of interest with peer RTWCs. Practical implications The role of the workplace RTWC in the return to work process for injured workers is important and these findings are highly relevant to the return to work sector. Consistency within the role at the workplace and careful consideration of the specific traits and characteristics required by an individual to perform the role need to be observed during the selection process by employers when appointing a workplace RTWC to assist injured workers return to work. Originality/value This is the first Australian study to examine the injured workers views and experiences with the workplace RTWC and other factors that shape the return to work process.

Patients’ with Multimorbidity and Psychosocial Difficulties and Their Views on Important Professional Competence for Rehabilitation Coordinators in the Return-to-Work Process

“…Regarding the empirical findings, Pransky et al [ 11 ], in line with our findings, reported professional credibility and administrational skills as important, and being knowledgeable about legal aspects as well as medical conditions have been reported as important by Shaw et al [ 9 ]. Bohatko-Naismith et al [ 13 , 17 ] found, similar to our findings, that good communication skills and empathy were important characteristics/traits to have. Some of the highest ranked competencies from Pransky et al’s [ 11 ] study (e.g., being committed to the goal of an early RTW) were not mentioned by our participants, while some of their lowest ranked competencies (e.g., taking a client-centred approach and the ability to evaluate potential impacts of co-morbidity) were important findings in our study.…”

“…Our purpose was not to define the right professional competence, or the right competences for a RECO to have; instead, our focus was to explore the patient perspective on this. The findings add to previous literature, for example, [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ] by pointing to six different themes of competence, including both general and specific qualities as well as more symbolic aspects of competence, such as how the RECO appeared or acted. The six themes found were: communicative and coordinating skills, engagement and advocacy skills, advisory and guidance skills, being empathic and therapeutic, being persistent and flexible, and being professional and trustworthy.…”

“…Our findings reflect the importance of not only competence that is shown or practiced, but also what is lacking. A lack of competence and certain skills can be perceived as equally decisive as the presence of them in the RTW process [ 13 , 17 ]. In our findings, a lack of advisory and guidance skills, both regarding health conditions and social circumstances, as well as a lack of persistency and flexibility, i.e., not being able to contact or have the RECO present during meetings with stakeholders, were regarded as hindering the RTW process.…”

“…As previous studies have investigated the competencies of RTW coordinators from the viewpoint of RTW coordinators themselves [ 11 , 12 , 14 , 16 ], other stakeholders [ 13 ], or experts [ 10 ], there is a lack of knowledge as to what patients view as important skills for the coordinator. One study [ 17 ] exploring injured workers’ experiences with their workplace RTW coordinators and the barriers the workers may have encountered during the RTW process, found that listening and communication skills, empathy, engagement, and knowledge of legislation were important, and found barriers such as RTW coordinators’ being unsupportive, inexperienced and apathetic.…”

Construction disability management maturity model: case study within the Manitoban construction industry

“…With the advancement of knowledge in the field, researchers have begun to realise the benefits of DM practices (Reynolds et al, 2006;Gail Hepburn et al, 2010). These benefits include improved employee health and safety and improved employee morale (Harder and Scott, 2005;Carmichael et al, 2016;Bohatko-Naismith et al, 2019). Other incentives for DM include corporate cultural incentives (Geisen et al, 2008) and the ability to generate additional business opportunities and reduce DM costs (Amick et al, 2000;Ngai et al, 2013).…”