Injured Workers can easily become socially isolated and disconnected by their workplace injury. Mental health difficulties can arise which can negatively impact their quality of life and make participation in a workplace rehabilitation program unachievable.
The aim of our psychosocial wellness services is to help an injured worker address psychosocial challenges that may be impacting on their health, their family, their connections with others, resilience and overall quality of life and to reduce barriers to an injured worker participating in a workplace rehabilitation program.
A psychosocial assessment is an evaluation of an injured worker’s mental, physical, and emotional health. It takes into account not only the physical and psychological health of the Injured Worker, but also their perception of self and their ability to function in the community. The assessment is used to map out psychosocial rehabilitation goals.
Findings from research indicate that psychosocial factors are often the main predictors of successful rehabilitation outcomes, particularly vocational outcomes. Inclusion of psychosocial interventions in a rehabilitation program is therefore important to progressing recovery, achieving positive rehabilitation outcomes and maintaining long term wellbeing.
In most cases, psychosocial interventions will provide relatively short term support with the aim of helping the person to self-manage their injuries, focus on their strengths and move forward in their lives.
Activities may include:
- Addressing barriers to accessing treatment;
- Targeting and improving functioning within the home (personal and instrumental activities of daily living);
- Interpersonal Relationships – counselling or self-management programs to support a worker’s relationships with others, providing strategies to build resilience, and/or manage and adapt to their health conditions more effectively;
- Socialisation goals – connecting workers with local community supports, services or programs;
- Supporting workers to participate in local activities and programs – this could include, undertaking community-based education or activities programs to assist to better engage with their community, or where this participation may be a ‘first step’ achievement toward workplace rehabilitation activities;
- Exercise physiology programs to assist workers to re-engage with physical activity in a structured and safe manner.