Purpose To determine if losing work during the COVID-19 pandemic is associated with mental and physical health status. To determine if social interactions and financial resources moderate the relationship between work loss and health. Methods Participants were Australians aged 18 + years that were employed in paid work prior to the COVID-19 pandemic who responded to an online or telephone survey from 27 th March to 12 th June 2020 as part of a prospective longitudinal cohort study. Outcome measures include Kessler-6 score > 18 indicating high psychological distress, and Short Form 12 (SF-12) mental health or physical health component score <  = 45 indicating poor mental or physical health. Results The cohort consisted of 2,603 respondents, including groups who had lost their job (N = 541), were not working but remained employed (N = 613), were working less (N = 660), and whose work was unaffected (N = 789). Three groups experiencing work loss had greater odds of high psychological distress (AOR = 2.22–3.66), poor mental (AOR = 1.78–2.27) and physical health (AOR = 2.10–2.12) than the unaffected work group. Poor mental health was more common than poor physical health. The odds of high psychological distress (AOR = 5.43–8.36), poor mental (AOR = 1.92–4.53) and physical health (AOR = 1.93–3.90) were increased in those reporting fewer social interactions or less financial resources. Conclusion Losing work during the COVID-19 pandemic is associated with mental and physical health problems, and this relationship is moderated by social interactions and financial resources. Responses that increase financial security and enhance social connections may alleviate the health impacts of work loss. Registration Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry: ACTRN12620000857909. Supplementary Information The online version of this article (10.1007/s10926-021-09958-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Background Insurance claims management practices may have a significant impact on the health and experiences of injured workers claiming in workers’ compensation systems. There are few multi-jurisdictional studies of the way workers experience compensation processes, and limited data on the association between claims experience and return to work outcomes. This study sought to identify worker, claim and injury related factors associated with injured worker experiences of workers’ compensation claims management processes, and to examine associations between claims experience and return to work. Methods A national, cross-sectional survey of injured workers involved in ten Australian workers’ compensation schemes. A total of 10,946 workers completed a telephone survey at 6 to 24 months post claim acceptance. Predictors of positive or negative/neutral claims experience were examined using logistic regression. Associations between claims experience, return to work status and duration of time loss were examined using logistic regression. Results Nearly one-quarter (23.0%, n = 2515) of workers reported a negative or neutral claims experience. Injury type, jurisdiction of claim, and time to lodge claim were most strongly associated with claims experience. Having a positive claims experience was strongly associated with having returned to work after accounting for injury, worker, claim and employer factors. Conclusions There is a strong positive association between worker experiences of the insurance claims process and self-reported return to work status. Revision and reform of workers’ compensation claims management practices to enhance worker experience and the fairness of procedures may contribute to improved return to work outcomes.

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The copyright holder for this preprint this version posted May 12, 2020. .

Objectives To determine health impacts during, and following, an extended community lockdown and COVID-19 outbreak in the Australian state of Victoria, compared with the rest of Australia. Methods A national cohort of 898 working-age Australians enrolled in a longitudinal cohort study, completing surveys before, during, and after a 112-day community lockdown in Victoria (8 July– 27 October 2020). Outcomes included psychological distress, mental and physical health, work, social interactions and finances. Regression models examined health changes during and following lockdown. Results The Victorian lockdown led to increased psychological distress. Health impacts coincided with greater social isolation and work loss. Following the extended lockdown, mental health, work and social interactions recovered to an extent whereby no significant long-lasting effects were identified in Victoria compared to the rest of Australia. Conclusion The Victorian community lockdown had adverse health consequences, which reversed upon release from lockdown. Governments should weigh all potential health impacts of lockdown. Services and programs to reduce the negative impacts of lockdown may include increases in mental health care, encouraging safe social interactions and supports to maintain employment relationships.

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Background Healthcare is funded and delivered separately from income support programs such as unemployment and disability benefits. Greater understanding of the health service use (HSU) of benefit recipients would support more effective design and delivery of health and income support programs. This study aimed to characterise the HSU of disability and unemployment benefit recipients relative to people earning wages, while controlling for personal, household and health-related factors associated with HSU in benefit recipients. Methods A cross-sectional national survey of 9110 working age Australian adults in three groups: (1) 566 receiving the disability support pension (DSP); (2) 410 receiving unemployment benefits; and (3) 8134 earning wages. Outcomes included prevalence and frequency of health professional consultations, hospital attendance and admission in the past 12 months, as well as medication and supplement use in the past 2 weeks. Analyses compared DSP and unemployment benefit recipients to wage earners using prevalence ratios and incident rate ratios, adjusted for predisposing, enabling and need factors that may affect HSU. Results In adjusted regression models, both DSP and unemployment benefit recipients were significantly more likely than wage earners to have consulted psychologists and social workers. DSP recipients also reported a significantly higher prevalence of consultations with General Practitioners (GPs), specialist physicians and podiatrists.. Both groups reported significantly more frequent consultations with GPs and DSP recipients with specialists. No differences were observed between groups for hospital attendance or admission, or supplement use in fully adjusted models, though the DSP group reported more prevalent medication use than wage earners. Inclusion of confounders including self-assessed health, disability severity, health insurance status, and financial resources attenuated the relationship between benefit receipt and HSU, however significant associations were still observed. Conclusions People receiving unemployment and disability insurance benefits use significantly more health services than wage earners. A range of personal and clinical characteristics explained much, but not all, of the association between greater HSU and benefit receipt. Greater coordination between health and income support systems may improve health, reduce HSU and improve work ability in unemployed and working age people.