Evaluation of a case management service to reduce sickness absence.
Occup Med (Lond)
; 63(2): 89-95, 2013 Mar.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-23365116
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
It is unclear whether and to what extent intensive case management is more effective than standard occupational health services in reducing sickness absence in the health care sector.AIMS:
To evaluate a new return to work service at an English hospital trust.METHODS:
The new service entailed intensive case management for staff who had been absent sick for longer than 4 weeks, aiming to restore function through a goal-directed and enabling approach based on a bio-psycho-social model. Assessment of the intervention was by controlled before and after comparison with a neighbouring hospital trust at which there were no major changes in the management of sickness absence. Data on outcome measures were abstracted from electronic databases held by the two trusts.RESULTS:
At the intervention trust, the proportion of 4-week absences that continued beyond 8 weeks fell from 51.7% in 2008 to 49.1% in 2009 and 45.9% in 2010. The reduction from 2008 to 2010 contrasted with an increase at the control trust from 51.2% to 56.1%-a difference in change of 10.7% (95% CI 1.5-20.0%). There was also a differential improvement in mean days of absence beyond 4 weeks, but this was not statistically significant (1.6 days per absence; 95% CI -7.2 to 10.3 days).CONCLUSIONS:
Our findings suggest that the intervention was effective, and calculations based on an annual running cost of £57 000 suggest that it was also cost-effective. A similar intervention should now be evaluated at a larger number of hospital trusts.
Texto completo:
1
Ejes tematicos:
Pesquisa_clinica
Banco de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Rehabilitación
/
Ausencia por Enfermedad
/
Servicios de Salud del Trabajador
Tipo de estudio:
Diagnostic_studies
/
Evaluation_studies
/
Observational_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
Límite:
Humans
Idioma:
En
Año:
2013
Tipo del documento:
Article