Occupational Therapy in Occupational Health: Factors Influencing Referral

Abstract

The early management of ill or injured workers, including occupational therapy, could help to reduce the costs and minimise the negative consequences of sickness absence. In an occupational health service that employed an occupational therapist, 37% (92) of the workers referred to occupational therapy over a 3-year period had been absent for more than 6 months. The occupational therapist was keen to examine the reasons that employees were not referred earlier and a questionnaire was sent to the human resource advisers who contracted with this service. The results of this small-scale survey suggest that referrals are delayed by several factors, including poor awareness of the skills of occupational therapists, poor awareness of the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of therapy and confusion over the different skills that occupational health professionals have.