Article

PURPOSE: To explore and describe health professionals' experience of working with
return to work (RTW) in multimodal rehabilitation for people with non-specific
back pain. METHOD: An interview study using qualitative content analysis. Fifteen
participants were interviewed, all were working with multimodal rehabilitation
for people with non-specific back pain in eight different rehabilitation units.
RESULTS: The participants experienced RTW as a long-term process reaching beyond
the time frames of the multimodal rehabilitation (MMR). Their attitudes and,
their patients' condition, impacted on their work which focused on psychological
and physical well-being as well as participation in everyday life. They often
created an action plan for the RTW process, however the responsibility for its
realisation was transferred to other actors. The participants described limited
interventions in connection with patients' workplaces. CONCLUSIONS: Recommended
support in the RTW process in MMR comprises the provision of continuous
supervision of vocational issues for the health care professionals, the
development of guidelines and a checklist for how to work in close collaboration
with patients' workplaces and employers, the provision of long-term follow-up in
relation to the patients' work, and the development of proper interventions in
order to promote transitions between all the different actors involved.
IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION: Rehabilitation programs targeting return to work
(RTW) for people with non-specific back pain needs to include features concretely
focusing on vocational issues. Health and RTW is often seen as a linear process
in which health comes before RTW. Rehabilitation programs could be tailored to
better address the reciprocal relationship between health and work, in which they
are interconnected and affect each other. The RTW process is reaching beyond the
time frames of the multimodal rehabilitation but further support from the
patients are asked for. The rehabilitation programs needs to be designed to
provide long-term follow-up in relation to the patients' work.

Langue : ANGLAIS