Background & Aims
Recovering from an injury in the setting of a compensation claim can be difficult for claimants. Indeed, extant research indicates that claimants can experience significant distress in response to the claims process. (1-5) However, little is known about the experiences of clinicians delivering care in these settings. The aim of this study was to address this gap in the literature by qualitatively exploring clinician experiences of and responses to distress in patients with compensation claims.
Methods
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 26 clinicians in Australia who deliver care to compensable patients. Clinicians included physiotherapists, occupational therapists, osteopaths, a nurse, and several medical doctors. Participants were asked about their experiences delivering care in compensable settings. An emphasis was placed on exploring clinician experiences of claimant distress. Audio recordings of the interviews were transcribed and data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.
Results
Clinicians described delivering care in this setting to be challenging for a multitude of reasons. Five responses to claimant distress in compensable care settings were described. These included: (1) vicarious injustice, which described a sense of clinician frustration or anger about how difficult it is for their patients to navigate the claims processes, (2) emotional exhaustion, which described a sense that this type of work takes an emotional toll, (3) self-doubt, which described clinicians feeling underprepared to help these claimants, (4) meaningful work, which described clinicians expressing a sense that helping this vulnerable population was highly rewarding and (5) mastery, which described clinicians expressing a sense of enjoying the challenges of engaging with the complexity of this type of work.
Conclusions
Clinicians reported a variety of responses to working with patients who have a compensable injury. Elements of the work may provide a sense of professional fulfillment. On the other hand, being exposed to high claimant distress and hearing of upsetting claimant experiences may cause clinician distress. Further research is needed to determine whether clinician responses to working with compensable patients may be moderated by factors such as level of experience or training and workplace factors.
References
1.Gabbe BJ, Sleney JS, Gosling CM, Wilson K, Sutherland A, Hart M, et al. Financial and employment impacts of serious injury: a qualitative study. Injury. 2014;45(9):1445-51.
2.Kilgour E, Kosny A, McKenzie D, Collie A. Interactions between injured workers and insurers in workers’ compensation systems: a systematic review of qualitative research literature. J Occup Rehabil. 2015;25(1):160-81.
3.MacEachen E, Kosny A, Ferrier S, Chambers L. The “toxic dose” of system problems: why some injured workers don’t return to work as expected. J Occup Rehabil. 2010;20(3):349-66.
4.Murgatroyd D, Lockwood K, Garth B, Cameron ID. The perceptions and experiences of people injured in motor vehicle crashes in a compensation scheme setting: a qualitative study. BMC Public Health. 2015;15:423.
5.Sharp VL, Chapman JE, Gardner B, Ponsford JL, Giummarra MJ, Lannin NA, et al. Perspectives of major traumatic injury survivors on accessibility and quality of rehabilitation services in rural Australia. Disabil Rehabil. 2023;45(8):1379-88.
Presenting Author
Alison Sim
Poster Authors
Alison Sim
MSc
The University of Sydney
Lead Author
Topics
- Other