Factors affecting return to work after injury or illness: best evidence synthesis of systematic reviews

doi:10.1186/s12998-016-0113-z

PMC full text:

Chiropr Man Therap. 2016; 24(1): 32.

Published online 2016 Sep 8. doi: 10.1186/s12998-016-0113-z

Copyright/License ►Request permission to reuse: Copyright © The Author(s). 2016
Open AccessThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.

Table 3

Common principles for successful return to work

Common principles for successful return

1. The workplace has a strong commitment to health and safety, which is demonstrated by the behaviours of the workplace parties.^a
2. The employer makes an offer of modified work (also known as work accommodation) to injured/ill workers so they can return early and safely to work activities suitable to their abilities.^a
3. RTW planners ensure that the plan supports the returning worker without disadvantaging co-workers and supervisors.^a
4. Supervisors are trained in work disability prevention and included in RTW planning.^a
5. The employer makes early and considerate contact with injured/ill workers.^a
6. Someone has the responsibility to coordinate RTW.^a
7. Employers and health-care providers communicate with each other about the workplace demands as needed, and with the worker’s consent.^a
8. The worker has access to multidisciplinary resources (including clinical interventions for the management of pain, disability, depression and poor expectations for recovery), where necessary, working in combination with the other stakeholders.

RTW return to work

^a The first seven principles are the original Seven Principles for Successful Return to Work by the Institute for Work and Health (IWH)⁹