Disability and the Claimant

1. Disability and the Claimant Inviting the claimant to play the principal role in his own well being • Claimant led Recovery • Claimant led Prevention John Harrison Nov 2012 Return to Work Matters

2. Bosses, Work satisfaction, Health • Two-thirds of Americans are unhappy with their jobs, and they say it's because they don't get along with their bosses. • In terms of the impact a boss has on employee health, 73% of those in their 20s and 30s said their health is at stake, while only 40% of those 50 and older felt that way. New York City, NY (PRWEB) October 16, 2012, Michelle McQuaid

3. Unfounded Claims • Advancing the notion that responsibility for both becoming ill, and becoming well, resides with the claimant, does more to assist recovery than the most expert medical, rehabilitation, and claims management assistance. • This is true prevention

4. The evolution of the Stakeholders • Stakeholders, such as Claims Personnel, Doctors, Rehabilitation Providers, HR Departments, Employers will be happier and healthier when they stop trying to fix the claimant, and adopt the stance that the claimant has to remedy the problem himself • When the claimant begins to understand his own responsibility, the health professional and claims professional can then assist him assist himself

5. Personal Experience • Everyone is different • Everyone has a different experience • No-one has a mortgage on the truth • The views contained within this presentation may hold no validity for you • Recognising that nothing this presentation claims is actually universally true, may be the most healthy stance for your claimant, and yourself

6. Self Created Well Being • Self led health • Self led prevention of work related injury and illness • Self led recovery

7. The Person behind the Illness or Injury • The role of the individual in his own recovery has been under-valued by both the worker and the stakeholders • Some claimants will hand over responsibility for their recovery to others if they can locate a person willing to take it • The role of the “carer” is readily transformed into a “rescuer” role • Recovery is made less likely by abandoning the role of self-led recovery

8. Stakeholders • The vital question to ask of the stakeholders is: • Would your own situation be personally compromised by an individual taking charge of his own recovery? • Would you forego financial, professional, collegiate benefits by the claimant recovering with a minimum of “carer” input?

9. Role of the Injured Worker • What % of this injury or illness has been created by the worker? • What % of recovery from this injury or illness is able to be influenced by the injured worker, according to the worker? • This is the % of recovery over which the worker can exert an influence.

10. Attitudes, Beliefs, Opinions • Ascertain the attitude of the injured worker to his predicament • Attitudes contain thoughts and feelings • What does he believe about the workplace, his supervisor, colleagues, management, HR? • What are his specific beliefs pertaining to his worth to the organisation • What are his specific beliefs pertaining to the organisation’s willingness to assist him recover and assist his rehabilitation?

11. Emotions • What is the injured worker feeling? • Anger (annoyed, irritated, pissed off…) • Sadness (flat, down, depressed, low, teary, unwanted…) • Fear (jumpy, concerned, anxious…) • Joy (delighted, light, free…)

12. Familiar Thoughts & Feelings • The Thoughts and Feelings arising from the workplace injury, if this is an injury which is failing to recover, will be habitual. • The workers will be familiar with similar thoughts and feelings which have arisen in other circumstances, often repeated over a lifetime • The workplace injury “represents” previous, unfinished, leftover, unresolved thoughts and feelings

13. Common Thoughts interfering with Healing • Work doesn’t give a damn • They’re only worried about the bottom line • Someone else is responsible for this accident • There’s no way I’m letting them off the hook with this one • I’m obviously working far too hard • Nobody appreciates what I do • They’ve failed to make the workplace safe, so now they can pay for it.

14. Conversations which Heal • How to invite, rather than insist upon an individual taking the sort of responsibility for himself which may contribute to his recovery • What do you want? • How can others assist you? • Your recovery is dependent upon yourself to a significant degree. Others can assist you. • An opportunity to discover your power

15. Getting Stakeholders on side • Re-inforcement of the major role in recovery belonging to the injured worker • Repetition of the lack of influence the stakeholders have in the absence of claimant involvement in recovery • Monitor carefully how hard the stakeholder is “working”. If working too hard convincing the worker, then need to step back and re-evaluate

16. Theory of recovery • Attitudes, beliefs, opinions are defensive, arising out of need in childhood • Emotions and Thoughts become “second nature” or acquired nature. • Defences keep people feeling safe but restrict possibilities • Defences restrict the immune system and the endocrine system from responding with flexibility to injury or illness • Therefore what a worker believes and feels may be preventing his recovery

17. Beliefs, Feelings and Healing • Beliefs and Feelings come not from the current situation to which they are attributed by the worker, but are leftover from the past. • The current situation affords the opportunity to revisit the leftover thoughts and feelings and resolve them. The current situation “represents” the left over unfinished business. • The Beliefs and Feelings assigned by the worker to the current situation are most likely restricting his healing

18. Realisation • To realise that the current situation, both its creation and its resolution, may have a lot more to do with the worker than either he, or any of the other stakeholder previously thought, is the beginning of the healing process. • The object of the Claims Manager is therefore to introduce this paradigm shift to the injured worker and any other stakeholders who may be impeding his recovery.

19. Are you interested? • Would you like to facilitate your own recovery? • What can you do? • Not so much what you need to do, but how you view both yourself, this incident, your workplace and its personnel and life generally • Monitor your own thoughts and feelings about your injury and your recovery

20. Stakeholders • Monitor their own thoughts and feelings about this case to check their own prejudices • Monitor how hard they are working • Note their thoughts and feelings about all the stakeholders: • Worker • Employer • Colleagues of worker • Insurer • Self • Claims Manager Colleagues