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

Abstract

Coordinators may play a key role during the return-to-work (RTW) process for people on sickness absence. There are still few studies on the newly implemented rehabilitation coordinators (RECO) within Swedish healthcare, and none focus on their competence. The aim of this study was to explore how persons with multimorbidity and psychosocial difficulties describe the professional competence of the RECO they encountered during their RTW process. The study takes a relational and practical approach in defining professional competence, including both what professionals do and what they possess. Interviews with 12 people with multimorbidity and psychosocial difficulties who had encountered a RECO during their RTW process were analysed using thematic analysis. Six different themes were found: communicative and coordinating skills; advisory and guidance skills; engagement and advocacy skills; being persistent and flexible; being empathic and therapeutic; being professional and trustworthy. Most of these are found in research on RTW coordinators, but being persistent, and having advisory, guidance, advocacy and therapeutic skills have not been recognised as important competences previously. This study adds patients’ views on important professional competence that support the RTW process, which should be regarded in further developments of RECOs’ functions and their competence descriptions.

Barriers, Facilitators and Experiences Linked to a Work-Related Case Management in Individuals with Substance Abuse Disorders

“…Within this study, participants mainly valued not being alone with problems, case managers motivating them and feeling understood. This was previously discussed as being persistent [ 21 ]. Furthermore, participants described that they achieved realistic expectations during the intervention concerning their future.…”

“…For instance, in a qualitative study assessing the experience of people with multimorbidity utilizing a rehabilitation coordinator during sickness absence, individuals describe the fear of not being appropriately consulted by the employment services or that contacting the social insurance agency was difficult [ 18 ]. On the other hand, the coordinating role of case managers or other RTW professionals was described as facilitating in several studies [ 18 , 19 , 20 ], with e.g., helping to adjust individuals strategies for RTW [ 20 ] or helping to stabilize work motivation [ 21 ].…”

Coordination and Perceived Support for Return to Work: A Cross-Sectional Study among Patients in Swedish Healthcare

“…The patients’ perspective is, therefore, important for optimizing the coordination efforts. Previous studies of the patient perspective on coordination are based on interviews with small numbers of participants [ 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 ]. These studies have found that RTWCs are perceived to enhance communication and collaboration between stakeholders and the transfer of knowledge between them.…”

Does employer involvement in primary health care enhance return to work for patients with stress-related mental disorders? a cluster randomized controlled trial

“…In recent years, rehabilitation coordinators (RCs) have been introduced in the Swedish health care system. Their role is to provide individual support to sick-listed patients and to coordinate with other public services and employers in the RTW process (29). RCs work both in primary care and inpatient care, and since February 2020, all regions in Sweden are obliged to offer RC services to sick-listed patients that need it.…”