Insurance workers' and physiotherapists' perceptions of their roles in the management of workers with injuries in the Western Australian workers' compensation system

© 2017 - IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved. BACKGROUND: Insurance workers and physiotherapists are important stakeholders in the rehabilitation of workers with an injury and subsequent musculoskeletal pain. Understanding perceptions of roles may facilitate communication between these st...

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Main Authors: Beales, Darren, Ruscoe, G., Mitchell, Tim
Format: Journal Article
Published: IOS Press 2017
Online Access:http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1036778
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/62382
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author Beales, Darren
Ruscoe, G.
Mitchell, Tim
author_facet Beales, Darren
Ruscoe, G.
Mitchell, Tim
author_sort Beales, Darren
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description © 2017 - IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved. BACKGROUND: Insurance workers and physiotherapists are important stakeholders in the rehabilitation of workers with an injury and subsequent musculoskeletal pain. Understanding perceptions of roles may facilitate communication between these stakeholders. OBJECTIVE: Increase knowledge around, (i) the self-perception of and (ii) the external perception of the insurance workers and physiotherapists roles in the management of aworker with an injury in an Australianworkers' compensation environment. METHODS: A cross-sectional study assessed the perceptions of insurance workers and physiotherapists related to the roles of these two professions in managing a worker with an injury via questionnaire. Respondents were also asked about potential communication barriers. RESULTS: Insurance workers (n = 48) and physiotherapists (n = 80) reported contrasting role perceptions, with their perception of the other profession leaning towards negative attributes. There was greater alignment of their beliefs of roles in the 'ideal' situation. The perception of barriers to communication also differed between the two professions. Effective and efficient communication was identified as a central component of mismatched role perceptions between stakeholders, but recognised as a critical attribute of 'ideal' stakeholder roles. CONCLUSION: Insurance workers and physiotherapists self-perception of their roles differs from external perceptions. This information highlights the importance of a shared understanding of stakeholder roles in the management of a worker with an injury.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-623822018-10-09T06:29:59Z Insurance workers' and physiotherapists' perceptions of their roles in the management of workers with injuries in the Western Australian workers' compensation system Beales, Darren Ruscoe, G. Mitchell, Tim © 2017 - IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved. BACKGROUND: Insurance workers and physiotherapists are important stakeholders in the rehabilitation of workers with an injury and subsequent musculoskeletal pain. Understanding perceptions of roles may facilitate communication between these stakeholders. OBJECTIVE: Increase knowledge around, (i) the self-perception of and (ii) the external perception of the insurance workers and physiotherapists roles in the management of aworker with an injury in an Australianworkers' compensation environment. METHODS: A cross-sectional study assessed the perceptions of insurance workers and physiotherapists related to the roles of these two professions in managing a worker with an injury via questionnaire. Respondents were also asked about potential communication barriers. RESULTS: Insurance workers (n = 48) and physiotherapists (n = 80) reported contrasting role perceptions, with their perception of the other profession leaning towards negative attributes. There was greater alignment of their beliefs of roles in the 'ideal' situation. The perception of barriers to communication also differed between the two professions. Effective and efficient communication was identified as a central component of mismatched role perceptions between stakeholders, but recognised as a critical attribute of 'ideal' stakeholder roles. CONCLUSION: Insurance workers and physiotherapists self-perception of their roles differs from external perceptions. This information highlights the importance of a shared understanding of stakeholder roles in the management of a worker with an injury. 2017 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/62382 10.3233/WOR-172636 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1036778 IOS Press fulltext
spellingShingle Beales, Darren
Ruscoe, G.
Mitchell, Tim
Insurance workers' and physiotherapists' perceptions of their roles in the management of workers with injuries in the Western Australian workers' compensation system
title Insurance workers' and physiotherapists' perceptions of their roles in the management of workers with injuries in the Western Australian workers' compensation system
title_full Insurance workers' and physiotherapists' perceptions of their roles in the management of workers with injuries in the Western Australian workers' compensation system
title_fullStr Insurance workers' and physiotherapists' perceptions of their roles in the management of workers with injuries in the Western Australian workers' compensation system
title_full_unstemmed Insurance workers' and physiotherapists' perceptions of their roles in the management of workers with injuries in the Western Australian workers' compensation system
title_short Insurance workers' and physiotherapists' perceptions of their roles in the management of workers with injuries in the Western Australian workers' compensation system
title_sort insurance workers' and physiotherapists' perceptions of their roles in the management of workers with injuries in the western australian workers' compensation system
url http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1036778
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/62382