Workers’ views on involving significant others in occupational health care: a focus group study among workers with a chronic disease

Figures & data

Table 1. Participant characteristics per focus group session (N = 21).

	Focus group session 1	Focus group session 2	Focus group session 3	Focus group session 4
	(N = 5)	(N = 9)	(N = 2)	(N = 5)
Gender
Male	4	6	–	4
Female	1	3	2	1
Age, mean (range)	55 (42–63)	54 (38–61)	52 (48–55)	59 (47–65)
Type of chronic disease
Somatic	3	8	1	5
Mental	2	–	1	–
Mixed	–	1	–	–
Recruitment method
Patient panel	4	7	1	5
Occupational health physicians	1	2	1	–

Table 2. Characteristics of participating workers (N = 21).

Participant ID	Gender	Age	Type of chronic disease(s)	Educational level^a	Current profession or work status	Duration of sick leave	Work resumption	Prior experience with involving significant others
M1	Male	38	Autism spectrum disorder, autonomic disorder	Medium	Administrative assistant	<3 months	Full	Unknown
M2	Male	56	Respiratory or autoimmune disorder, musculoskeletal disorder, gastrointestinal disorder, sleep disorder	High	Unemployed	>24 months	No	Unknown
M3	Male	49	Musculoskeletal disorder	Medium	Seeking employment	Unknown	Unknown	No
M4	Male	61	Common endocrine disorder, musculoskeletal disorder	High	Chief product officer	Unknown	No	Unknown
M5	Male	61	Neurological or sensory disorder	High	Notary clerk	3 − 6 months	Partial	Yes, partner attended consultations with the OHP
M6	Male	56	Neurological or sensory disorder	High	Advisor	3 − 6 months	Full	Unknown
M7	Male	54	Neurological or sensory disorder	Medium	Disability benefit recipient	7 − 12 months	No	Yes, partner attended consultations with the OHP
M8	Male	42	Mental illness	High	Insurance actuary	3 − 6 months	Full	Yes, partner attended consultations with a psychologist
M9	Male	58	Respiratory or autoimmune disorder, gastrointestinal disorder, infectious disease, musculoskeletal disorder, cancer	Low	Bus driver	Unknown	Partial	Yes, partner attended consultations with the OHP and with medical specialists
M10	Male	63	Mental illness	High	Seeking employment	3 − 6 months	No	Unknown
M11	Male	59	Neurological or sensory disorder	High	Unemployed	3 − 6 months	Full	Yes, adult child living at home attended consultations with the OHP
M12	Male	65	Musculoskeletal disorder	Low	Mail carrier	< 3 months	Full	Unknown
M13	Male	63	Respiratory or autoimmune disorder, musculoskeletal disorder, neurological or sensory disorder, cardiovascular disorder	High	Unemployed	3 − 6 months	No	No
M14	Male	62	Musculoskeletal disorder, common endocrine disorder	Medium	Sales manager	3 − 6 months	Full	Unknown
F1	Female	57	Neurological or sensory disorder	High	Unemployed	13 − 24 months	No	Yes, partner attended consultations with the OHP
F2	Female	53	Musculoskeletal disorder	High	Self-employed	13 − 24 months	Partial	Unknown
F3	Female	58	Musculoskeletal disorder, respiratory or autoimmune disorder	High	Education and training institute employee	7 − 12 months	Partial	No
F4	Female	48	Musculoskeletal disorder	High	Nurse	7 − 12 months	Full	Unknown
F5	Female	55	Mental illness	High	Disability benefit recipient	Unknown	Unknown	Yes, a good acquaintance attended consultations with the OHP
F6	Female	59	Musculoskeletal disorder	Medium	Customer service advisor	13 − 24 months	Partial	No
F7	Female	47	Respiratory or autoimmune disorder, neurological or sensory disorder	High	University teacher	>24 months	Partial	No

^aLow educational level = primary education, pre-vocational secondary education (VMBO); Medium educational level = senior general secondary education (HAVO), pre-university education (VWO), secondary vocational education (MBO); High educational level = higher professional education (HBO), university education (WO), doctorate (PhD).

Figure 1. Overview of themes and subthemes. Figure 1.

Tree diagram depicting the four main themes “attitudes towards involving significant others”, “preferences on how to involve significant others”, “benefits of involving significant others”, and “concerns with regard to involving significant others” and their corresponding subthemes.

Data availability statement

The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are not publicly available due to identifying information, but are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.