Mutinational Pilot Study on Work Incapacity: Who Returns to Work and Why?
Our colleague Ilene Zeitzer of the US Social Security Administration was kind enough to provide the following information about a new, multinational study, pilot by the Geneva-based ISSA on return to work. Members of our community seeking further information may wish to contact Roland Sigg is head of Research for the ISSA at sigg@ilo.org
Just published by the International Social Security Association (ISSA) is a new and unique comparative study on work incapacity and reintegration, called Who Returns to Work and Why? Edited by Frank S. Bloch and Rienk Prins, the six country study marks the first time an attempt has been made in a comparative project on social insurance disability programs to add scientific measurement to the descriptive analysis. Specifically the study combines quantitative analysis with qualitative details. It uses specific methodology requiring comparable cohorts in each of the study countries which are: Denmark; Germany; Israel; the Netherlands, Sweden; and the United States. The subjects enrolled in the cohorts were all workers who were out of work full time for at least three months as a result of specific back problems. The report employs a longitudinal approach that permits the researchers to measure for the effects of such factors as: time since the condition caused absence from work; medical and vocational interventions; labor market policies and practices; and other social or demographic aspects such as living alone or the availability of social supports. Social science researchers, social insurance administrators, rehabilitation providers, public policy makers and others interested in the topic should find that the study provides a wealth of new information on the complex issues surrounding disability and return to work such as:
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What are the commonalities that make a condition so disabling that people are unable or unlikely treturn twork?
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What effect does self-perceptions of health status have on the likelihood of successful return twork?
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What are the factors that are seemingly extraneous tthe condition itself, but that nonethless positively or negatively correlate treturn twork?
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Whis likely treturn twork and whis not?
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What are the predictors of success or failure?
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Does early intervention matter?
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What effect does time have on the likelihood of returning twork after back injury?
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What interventions are used and which, if any, are effective?
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Is there an optimal time for interventions?
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What is the financial situation vis-a-vis pre-disability status of those whcannot return twork?
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Can the variations in outcomes for the participating countries be explained simply by cultural or system differences?
These and many other questions have been explored and more importantly, measured in this unique cross-national project. The results are often surprising and the findings dispel many commonly held beliefs and will call into question many prevailing practices. Moreover, the design of the methodology and the sample size help ensure the validity of the findings. The book is a product of the overall project which also produced a searchable database on CD-ROM. For more information, go to the ISSA website: www.issa.int
Roland Sigg is head of Research for the ISSA sigg@ilo.org
Who Returns to Work and Why ISBN: 0-7658-0770-X is available from:
Transaction Publishers
New Brunswick NJ (USA) and London (UK)
paperback: U.S.$ 29.95 / GBP 23.95
Carl Raskin
Executive Director
Global Applied Disability Research and Information Network on Employment and Training
GLADNET Association
Box 612 Station "B"
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada
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tel: 613 825 6193
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E-mail : info@gladnet.org
Aldred H. Neufeldt, President
Carl Raskin, Executive Director
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