Return to Work After a Workplace-oriented Intervention for Patients on Sick Leave Due to Burnout

Professional Burnout

Burnout, Sick leave, Intervention study, Prospective study, Work

The study aims to evaluate the effect on return to work of a workplace intervention with patients being treated for burnout. The intervention intends to reduce job-person mismatch through patient-supervisor communication.The hypothesis is that the intervention group will show a more favourable outcome than a control group with respect to return to work.

Participants are consecutively recruited in co-operation with regional social insurance offices (RSIOs) in the two southern counties of Sweden. Persons accepting participation are clinically examined and interviewed of the course of events leading up to the burnout and the patient's expectations of changes necessary to facilitate return to work are recorded. The patient´s supervisor is then interviewed at the workplace, responding to the same questions on perceived main causes of the subordinate's sick leave and changes necessary to facilitate return to work. Finally, the core intervention takes place, namely a dialogue being initiated between the patient and the supervisor to find solutions to facilitate return to work. Out of those who do not want to participate, without giving any specific reason for that, a control group is matched by length and degree of sick leave at the time of the intervention.

Sweden