Nagra Gagan, Hung Pam, Peters Meaghan Ray, Guptill Christine, Ezeugwu Victor E, Cooper Lynn, McKeen Beverley, Gross Douglas P
Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
School of Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
Front Health Serv. 2025 Jun 4;5:1589643. doi: 10.3389/frhs.2025.1589643. eCollection 2025.
Patient-oriented research (POR) incorporates patient-identified priorities and lived experiences into research. Despite their central role in return-to-work (RTW) planning, perspectives and priorities of injured workers are under-represented in Occupational Therapy research. Occupational therapists (OTs) play a key role in RTW research and practice, implementing evidence-based plans and patient-centered care, which positions them well to conduct POR.
The purpose of this paper is to identify considerations for POR approaches for OTs to engage injured workers in RTW research.
The engagement of injured workers as research partners is not well described or understood in POR. This paper outlines practical considerations for conducting POR with injured workers, addressing challenges such as power imbalances, communication barriers, fears of unemployment, and varying levels of vulnerability. OTs can facilitate knowledge transfer and act as knowledge brokers within the RTW process, leveraging their client-centered practice to lead research that optimally engages injured workers.
Conducting POR with injured workers can shed light on their interactions with health, insurance, and compensation systems. POR approaches can highlight strengths and limitations of available services and systems and promote improved collaboration and knowledge translation and exchange. OTs can apply POR in research and practice to bridge this gap.
以患者为导向的研究（POR）将患者确定的优先事项和生活经历纳入研究。尽管受伤工人在重返工作岗位（RTW）规划中发挥着核心作用，但职业治疗研究中受伤工人的观点和优先事项却未得到充分体现。职业治疗师（OT）在RTW研究和实践中发挥着关键作用，实施基于证据的计划和以患者为中心的护理，这使他们非常适合开展POR。
本文的目的是确定职业治疗师采用POR方法让受伤工人参与RTW研究时应考虑的因素。
在POR中，受伤工人作为研究伙伴的参与情况并未得到充分描述或理解。本文概述了与受伤工人进行POR时的实际考虑因素，解决了诸如权力不平衡、沟通障碍、失业恐惧和不同程度的脆弱性等挑战。职业治疗师可以促进知识转移，并在RTW过程中充当知识经纪人，利用他们以客户为中心的实践来引领能让受伤工人最佳参与的研究。
与受伤工人进行POR可以揭示他们与健康、保险和赔偿系统的互动情况。POR方法可以突出现有服务和系统的优势与局限性，并促进更好的合作以及知识转化与交流。职业治疗师可以在研究和实践中应用POR来弥合这一差距。
