Patients’ with Multimorbidity and Psychosocial Difficulties and Their Views on Important Professional Competence for Rehabilitation Coordinators in the Return-to-Work Process

Azadé Azad and Veronica Svärd
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Azadé Azad: Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Division of Insurance Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden
Veronica Svärd: Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Division of Insurance Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 19, 1-12

Abstract: Coordinators may play a key role during the return-to-work (RTW) process for people on sickness absence. There are still few studies on the newly implemented rehabilitation coordinators (RECO) within Swedish healthcare, and none focus on their competence. The aim of this study was to explore how persons with multimorbidity and psychosocial difficulties describe the professional competence of the RECO they encountered during their RTW process. The study takes a relational and practical approach in defining professional competence, including both what professionals do and what they possess. Interviews with 12 people with multimorbidity and psychosocial difficulties who had encountered a RECO during their RTW process were analysed using thematic analysis. Six different themes were found: communicative and coordinating skills; advisory and guidance skills; engagement and advocacy skills; being persistent and flexible; being empathic and therapeutic; being professional and trustworthy. Most of these are found in research on RTW coordinators, but being persistent, and having advisory, guidance, advocacy and therapeutic skills have not been recognised as important competences previously. This study adds patients’ views on important professional competence that support the RTW process, which should be regarded in further developments of RECOs’ functions and their competence descriptions.

Keywords: return to work; rehabilitation; coordinator; professional competence; qualities; skills; knowledge; patient perspective (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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