Institute for Work & Health, 400 University Avenue, Toronto, ON, M5G 1S5, Canada.
Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
J Occup Rehabil. 2021 Sep;31(3):652-663. doi: 10.1007/s10926-021-09961-y. Epub 2021 Feb 2.
Purpose There is an absence of evidence-based guidance to support workplace stakeholders in the effective delivery of return-to-work (RTW) messages. Our study examines the specific RTW communication practices and their impact on the management of work disability. Methods Within two large and complex healthcare organizations, semi-structured interviews were conducted with workplace stakeholders (e.g., supervisors, union representatives, disability management professionals and workers' compensation representatives) and workers who had previously experienced sickness absence related to an occupational injury or illness. For workplace stakeholders interview questions asked about their roles and responsibilities in the RTW process, and specific communication strategies and messages that were used at different phases of the RTW process. For worker participants, interview questions explored RTW experiences and the impact of communication on work re-integration. An interpretative descriptive approach was used to inductively examine themes from interviews to create ways of understanding phenomena that yielded applied findings. Results Forty participants were interviewed including workplace stakeholders and workers. Participants frequently described effective RTW communication as messages that were delivered by a workplace stakeholder that included the content required by an injured worker to navigate the organizational disability management process and utilized specific strategies to address the perceived attitudes and perceptions held by an injured worker regarding work re-integration. Workplace stakeholders described five specific communication strategies including relaying messages of support, optimizing the timing of communication, careful word choice, framing messages, and tailoring communication to the injured worker. Conclusion RTW communication is an active process that requires a strategic approach. Effective communication practices represent an important strategy for workplace stakeholders to address the barriers held by injured workers and foster early and sustained RTW.
目前缺乏循证指导，无法为工作场所利益相关者提供有效的重返工作岗位 (RTW) 信息传递支持。我们的研究考察了特定的 RTW 沟通实践及其对工作残疾管理的影响。
在两个大型且复杂的医疗保健组织中，对工作场所利益相关者（例如主管、工会代表、残疾管理专业人员和工人赔偿代表）以及曾因职业伤害或疾病经历病假的工人进行了半结构化访谈。对于工作场所利益相关者，访谈问题涉及他们在 RTW 过程中的角色和责任，以及在 RTW 过程的不同阶段使用的特定沟通策略和信息。对于工人参与者，访谈问题探讨了 RTW 经历以及沟通对工作重新融入的影响。采用解释性描述方法，从访谈中归纳主题，以创建理解现象的方法，从而产生应用发现。
共访谈了 40 名参与者，包括工作场所利益相关者和工人。参与者经常将有效的 RTW 沟通描述为由工作场所利益相关者传递的信息，其中包括受伤工人在组织残疾管理过程中所需的内容，并利用特定策略解决受伤工人对工作重新融入的感知态度和看法。工作场所利益相关者描述了五种特定的沟通策略，包括传达支持信息、优化沟通时机、谨慎用词、框定信息以及根据受伤工人的情况调整沟通。
RTW 沟通是一个主动的过程，需要采取策略方法。有效的沟通实践代表了工作场所利益相关者解决受伤工人障碍并促进早期和持续 RTW 的重要策略。
