Employment maintenance and the factors that impact it after vocational rehabilitation and return to work

Abstract

Purpose. To determine post-return-to-work disability and functioning amongst occupationally injured workers and to test the extent to which demographic and other variables relate to employment maintenance. In addition, the project sought to document what workers believe determined their work continuation.

Method. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted to inquire about participant's (N = 150) post-vocational rehabilitation return-to-work experiences. Results were interpreted using the health and health-related domains from the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health.

Results. Although most participants were working at the time of interview, almost all were experiencing functional- or activity-based restrictions. Factors differentiating those employed from those not, were largely contextual and included relationships with supervisors, economic climate, and working conditions.

Conclusions. The findings stress the importance of considering environmental strains when planning return to work and indicate ways to assist workers to achieve return-to-work success.

Keywords:

• Return to work
• rehabilitation
• participation barriers and facilitators

Acknowledgments

The author gratefully acknowledges the following people for their contributions to this project: Mary Jane Woiszwillo, Rebecca Shayne, Andrea Blakemore, Amy Vercillo, Robert Dometrio, Glenn Pransky, and of course, those who agreed to share their stories. She thanks them all. The study was conducted in accordance with ethical standards on human experimentation and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 1983 and approved by the Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety's Institutional Review Board and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Industrial Accidents.