Promoting Early, Safe Return to Work in Injured Employees: A Randomized Trial of a Supervisor Training Intervention in a Healthcare Setting

Details

• Personal Author:
  Reul NK ; Spector JT
• Description:
  Purpose Supervisors in the healthcare sector have the potential to contribute to disability prevention in injured employees. Published data on the evaluation of return to work (RTW) interventions aimed at direct supervisors are scarce. We sought to determine the effect of a brief audiovisual supervisor training module on supervisor RTW attitudes and knowledge. Methods A parallel-group study, using equal randomization, comparing the training module intervention to usual practice in healthcare supervisors at a quaternary care hospital was conducted. Differences between groups in changes in RTW attitude and knowledge survey question scores between baseline and 3 months were assessed using the Mann-Whitney U test. The Benjamini-Hochberg-Yekutieli procedure was used to control for false discovery rate and generate adjusted p values. Results Forty supervisors were allocated to the intervention group and 41 to the usual practice group. Attitude and knowledge scores for most questions improved between baseline and immediately after intervention administration. Comparing intervention (n = 33) and usual practice groups (n = 37), there was a trend toward greater increase between baseline and 3 months follow-up in agreement that the supervisor can manage the RTW process (U = 515, adjusted p value = 0.074) and in confidence that the supervisor can answer employees' questions (U = 514, adjusted p value = 0.074) in the intervention group, although these findings were not statistically significant. Conclusions The training intervention may have provided the initial tools for supervisors to navigate the RTW process in collaboration with others in the RTW community of practice. A larger study with longer follow-up is needed to confirm results. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Education Health Personnel Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Workers' Compensation Health Care Workers Health Personnel Injuries Intervention Effectiveness Occupational Injuries Randomized Controlled Trial Return To Work Supervisory Personnel Workers Compensation
• ISSN:
  1053-0487
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 10 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  70-81
• Volume:
  27
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20063805
• Citation:
  J Occup Rehabil 2017 Mar; 27(1):70-81
• Contact Point Address:
  June T. Spector, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington (UW), 4225 Roosevelt Way NE, Suite 100, Box 354695, Seattle, WA, 98105, USA
• Email:
  spectj@u.washington.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2017
• Performing Organization:
  University of Washington
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation
• End Date:
  20250630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:f0b9efecac28d89e346070cbc2d53c2b41679c7a479573bbf70c6f7bd0af747ac63a06230b13c8788879b547507c47d90dd99ea923019a50aaf8c5a88fc7b2dc
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/222358/cdc_222358_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 582.61 KB ]