Recovery at work insider - Issue 20
4 November 2022
How to support recovery through work following psychological injury
Why is this important?
Supporting workers to recover at work is generally good for their health. The best way to achieve a good outcome is through a flexible, tailored person-centered approach to recover at work planning following a psychological injury.
From the evidence
Workers who’ve experienced a work-related psychological injury are less likely to be contacted by their supervisor or other members of their workplace than those who have sustained a physical injury1. This leads to poorer outcomes.
People who make psychological injury claims take longer to return to work, have slower recovery journeys, report poorer claims experiences, and have more costly claims than those for physical injury.2
What you can do
- Reduce stigma around psychological injury by improving workplace culture and communication.
- Use helpful language that supports recovery.
- Understand the factors in the workplace that may have contributed to a worker’s psychological injury and address these before they return to work.
- Invest in developing a supportive and positive approach to the recovery at work process.
- Minimise the environmental stressors e.g. limit exposure to stressful situations, offer flexible work arrangements and/or reduce hours, consider the deliverables not the location or time things get done.
- Openly communicate with your worker about the support they need from the workplace.
- Discuss the suitable work available with your worker and support team.
- Talk about what information they would like to share (if any) and how they prefer to communicate this.
- Set up regular times to check in on progress (that suit you and your worker) manage any issues, and make any necessary changes to the plan.
Consider all information and recommendations from the worker’s support team.
Resources and tools
- Hear2Talk is a free, independent and confidential phone support service for NSW employers and workers. Watch these short videos to understand what to expect
- Recovery at work toolkit
- Mental health recovery at work
- Recovery orientated language guide Mental Health Coordinating Council 2018
- Return to Work provides some practical do’s and don'ts for conversations with a distressed employee
- Beyond Blue’s website for employers, Heads Up, includes links to training opportunities and resources
References
1 Social Research Centre, 2018, ‘National return to work survey 2018’
2 SIRA mental health recovery and support action plan
Next edition
Our November edition will look at optimising the value of your return to work program.
Previous editions
Missed an issue? Read our most recent issues below:
- Issue 19: What you can do if recovery at work is not going to plan
- Issue 18: How to support your worker if they need time off work
- Issue 17: Maintaining your recovery through work skills
- Issue 16: The positive impact of using a written recover at work plan
- Issue 15: A tailored, person-centred approach improves outcomes
Latest SIRA News
- Responding to increasing psychological injury claims in workers compensation
- Update on COVID-19 claims in the workers compensation system
- Using workplace facilitated discussions to improve outcomes for people with psychological injuries
- Building GP capability in workplace mental health
- Consultation open on changes to health provider regulation
Earlier issues, can be accessed via the SIRA website.
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