Biographical disruption of injured workers in chronic pain

Abstract

Purpose. This research explored how injured workers living with work-related chronic pain rethink and reconstruct their biographical experience.

Method. This qualitative study used a grounded theory approach to data collection and analysis. Semi-structured focus groups were conducted to gather data and analysis was performed by the coding of emergent themes.

Results. Analysis of the focus groups revealed the impact that chronic pain has on the social components of an injured worker's life; particularly their sense of self, their relationship to others and how they perceive themselves in social situations.

Conclusions. Injured workers experienced changes (physical, psychological and social transformations) that led to biographical disruption; a change in self-identity, which in turn contributed to changes in important relationship dynamics. Injured workers spoke of repeated losses – loss of self, relationships and of the life imagined. Understanding the meaning of these losses could improve the conditions surrounding the injured worker's biographical reconstruction and facilitate the rehabilitation process.

Keywords:

• Sociology
• chronic pain
• injured workers
• work disability prevention

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank all focus group participants involved in the study. They would like tothank Grace Tang for assisting with the data collection.

Declaration of interest: The authors declare that they have no competing interests. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper. The study was funded by a Centre of Research Expertise in Improved Disability Outcomes [[CREIDO]] pilot study grant.