Return to work, accommodation and support

A key element of a successful return to work is a good, communicative relationship among the injured worker, the employer and the worker’s doctors. But a study found the relationship between employers and doctors can be marred by mistrust and lack of communication.

Published: OHS Insider, April 2016

A follow-up study by the Institute for Work & Health finds depressive symptoms at six months after work-related injury are a signal that poor mental health may persist at 12 months.

Published: February 2016

Published: February 2016

Older men and women with work-related injuries remain off work on benefits longer than other workers, and this longer time off work is not explained by the type or severity of their injuries.

Published: January 2016

IN 2004, IWH conducted its first systematic review of the literature on the effectiveness of workplace-based interventions, which in turn led to the popular Seven ‘Principles’ of Effective Return to Work. The Institute updated this review to see what new evidence may be available on workplace-based interventions.

Status: Completed 2017

In 2004, the Institute for Work & Health (IWH) published a mixed-method systematic review on workplace‐based return‐to‐work (RTW) interventions. Recently, IWH and the Institute for Safety, Compensation and Recovery Research (ISCRR) in Australia worked together to update and expand this review to include system-level or jurisdictional interventions and mental illness. In this plenary, IWH's Emma Irvin and Kim Cullen discuss the latest findings and what they mean to the practice of evidence-based return to work.

Published: March 2015

How do health-care providers their role in the return-to-work process? What challenges do they face interacting with workers’ compensation boards, injured workers, employers and other health-care professionals? These are among the questions answered by a multi-jurisdictional research team led by IWH.

Status: Completed 2017

Are there important male and female differences in the assessment of work stress, the biological and behavioural reactions to work stress, and the relationship between work stress and risk of subsequent disease? This IWH study expects to find out.

Status: Completed 2018

Taking a life-course approach, an IWH research team explored the unique employment-related experiences and needs of people living with arthritis at different stages of their lives and careers.

Status: Completed 2017

Using workers' compensation data from the Australian state of Victoria, an IWH study investigates differences in the return-to-work experiences of workers with psychological injuries compared to those with musculoskeletal disorders, and of older workers compared to younger ones.

Status: Completed 2020