The Effectiveness of an Intervention to Enhance Cooperation Between Sick-Listed Employees and Their Supervisors (COSS)

Abstract

Introduction Early return-to-work (RTW) after sick leave is considered to support employees’ quality of life. Successful RTW requires adequate cooperation between absent employees and their supervisors. This study assesses the effectiveness of an intervention for COoperation regarding RTW between Sick-listed employees and their Supervisors (COSS; i.e. ‘conversation roadmap’, monitoring of cooperation and, if necessary, extra occupational physician support). Methods In this field study, employees on sick leave for 2–10 weeks, aged 18 up to and including 60, and performing paid labour for at least 12 h per week were included. Terminally ill were excluded. Multivariate regression (correcting for baseline quality of life) was used to compare 6-months follow up data regarding quality of life between the groups. Using Cox regression analyses, time until first-, full-, and sustainable RTW was compared between groups. Results In total 64 employees received COSS or common practice. No significant group differences were found regarding all study outcomes. The COSS group had a higher chance of work resumption than the common practice group. The hazard ratio was 1.39 for first RTW (95 % CI 0.81–2.37), 1.12 for full RTW (95 % CI 0.65–1.93) and 1.10 for sustainable RTW (95 % CI 0.63–1.95). Conclusions COSS has no significant effects. Yet, the results regarding work resumption show a tendency towards effectiveness. Therefore, COSS can be further developed and applied in practice. Researchers should try to prevent some limitations of the present study in future research, for instance by finding a more common research setting.

The Influence of Social Support and Social Integration Factors on Return to Work Outcomes for Individuals with Work-Related Injuries: A Systematic Review

“…Review 3 asked ‘Are interventions focused on social support and social integration in work and non-work-related contexts effective in increasing RTW outcomes for individuals with work-related injuries?’. While some interventions have been conducted with social aspects, such as communication or group-based activities (e.g., [60–63]), these interventions were not directed towards individuals who had received a work-related injury. Further research should be conducted examining the efficacy of such interventions for work-related or compensable injuries as these workers have been found to experience longer delays in work return than workers with non-compensable injuries [17].…”

Trajectories of returning to work and its impact on survival in survivors with oral cancer: A 5‐year follow‐up study

“…The primary outcome for this cohort was RTW 1 to 5 years after an oral cancer diagnosis. The type of RTW in our study was full RTW, which was defined as the time in calendar days of sick leave until complete work resumption . The confirmation of RTW was made based on employment data in the LID database.…”

“…The type of RTW in our study was full RTW, which was defined as the time in calendar days of sick leave until complete work resumption. 27 The confirmation of RTW was made based on employment data in the LID database. Each eligible survivor was followed from the date of the baseline evaluation to their date of death or the end of the follow-up.…”

Sustainable Return to Work: A Systematic Review Focusing on Personal and Social Factors

“…Conversely, Lammerts et al’s [10] study on sick-listed workers with a depressive or anxiety disorder operationalized sustainable RTW as employed participants who have not been long-term sick-listed (more than 14 days) in the previous 6 months. Hoefsmit et al [22] investigated RTW outcomes for employees sick-listed with all ill-health apart from terminally ill employees, and defined sustainable RTW as working for four weeks without relapse in partial or complete sick-leave. In this review, sustainable RTW was formulated with a timeframe of at-least 3 months without relapse or absence.…”