Work Participation Among Employees with Common Mental Disorders: A Meta-synthesis

Abstract

Purpose The aim was to aggregate knowledge about the opportunities, challenges and need for support employees with common mental disorders experience in relation to work participation in order to develop recommendations for practice. Methods A meta-synthesis was conducted using a meta-aggregative approach to accurately and reliably present findings that could be used to meet our aim. Qualitative inductive content analysis was used to analyze and synthesize the findings. Results In all, 252 findings were extracted from 16 papers, and six categories were generated and aggregated into two synthesized findings. One synthesized finding indicates that a strong work identity and negative perceptions regarding mental disorders can impede work participation, creating an essential need for a supportive work environment. The other reveals that the diffuse nature of the symptoms of mental disorders causes instability in life and loss of control, but through the use of internal motivation and external support, employees may be able to regain control of their lives. However, external support is hampered by insufficient cooperation and coordination between vocational stakeholders. Conclusions Based on the synthesized findings, we recommended that the employer is involved in the rehabilitation process, and that rehabilitation professionals seek to strengthen the employee's ability to manage work-related stress. In addition, rehabilitation professionals should provide individualized and active support and ensure meaningful cooperation across the multidisciplinary disciplines involved in the rehabilitation process.

Workplace inclusion of employees with back pain and mental health problems: A focus group study about employees’ experiences

“…Our findings support previous studies in which employees with back pain describe not feeling understood because their health problems were invisible [15,22]. Many studies have stressed the need for a supportive and inclusive work environment for employees staying at work despite their health problems [23][24][25]. Our study adds to previous knowledge by expanding on how social support and a flexible working environment for employees with health problems can be achieved [8,9].…”

Health, Work, and Family Strain – Psychosocial Experiences at the Early Stages of Long-Term Sickness Absence

“…The results in this study show that experiences previously identified among long-term sick-listed such as demanding work and personal life (Thisted et al, 2018), social disruption (Froud et al, 2014), and uncertainty in balancing illness and RTW considerations (Andersen et al, 2012;Froud et al, 2014;Grant et al, 2019), were also relevant across health concerns at an early stage of long-term sick leave. These experiences demonstrate the complex and multidimensional aspects of sick leave, which could mean that multiple stakeholders with different perspectives may be needed in early interventions to assist sicklisted individuals back to work.…”

“…The importance of psychosocial factors in the RTW process are also demonstrated in findings that stressful family situations and a demanding work life are common experiences among long-term sick-listed individuals (Sandmark and Renstig, 2010;Frederiksen et al, 2015;Brataas and Evensen, 2016;Corbière et al, 2016). Meta-syntheses of qualitative RTW research also point to the disruption of social life during sick leave, stressful work situations, and the importance of supportive workplace for RTW, as common experiences (Froud et al, 2014;Thisted et al, 2018;Grant et al, 2019). The theory of role strain states that different obligations for the various social roles (e.g., at work, family, leisure) may not be compatible (Goode, 1960).…”

An overlooked concept? Intention to return to work among individuals on sick leave due to common mental disorders: A scoping review

“…As mentioned above, there is a lack of research regarding RTW intention in relation to CMDs. However, a number of studies have investigated the importance of personal factors, that is, attitude, to RTW after sick leave due to CMDs as well as the individual's own experience of the RTW process (Andersen et al, 2012;Nielsen et al, 2013;Thisted et al, 2018). Furthermore, expectation concerning work ability (Victor et al, 2017) and confidence regarding RTW (RTW self-efficacy; Lagerveld et al, 2017) have been investigated among individuals on sick leave for CMDs.…”