DorlandHealth

Addressing the Physical, Psychological and Psychosocial Needs of Older Workers

When an employee becomes injured on the job, it is essential to consider the needs of the whole person — physical, psychological and psychosocial — in order to facilitate a successful return to work. Although much of the emphasis in a workers’ compensation case is placed on the physical body, issues ranging from depression and fear of reinjury to a lack of support systems cannot be overlooked.

With an older employee, psychological and psychosocial issues may be more imperative. Fears surrounding losing one’s job (even if unfounded) and feeling a loss of control in one’s life can become real impediments that keep older workers from returning to work and successfully staying on the job.

“There are specific issues when older workers are out on workers’ compensation,” says Thomas Emerick, president of Emerick Consulting LLC of Fayetteville, Ark. “Older workers in this situation have special concerns such as fear of being able to return to work, combined with worries over seeing their careers suddenly being limited.”

For case managers handling workers’ compensation cases, being attuned to the red flags and warning signals can ensure that psychological and psychosocial issues are addressed along with clinical and rehabilitative aspects of care.

Scoping the Challenges of Trauma Case Managers

Hospital case management is a demanding field, where challenges spring up in a moment’s notice. Crystallizing these challenges is the level one trauma center, which places case managers in what are often formidable positions.

Walk a shift through the eyes of a trauma case manager and here’s what you’re likely to face (in the Southwest meltinig pot where I work, at least): establishing the identification of a deceased trauma victim and engaging local police in an effort to assist; notifying family or friends of a victim that just arrived; crowd-control and grief resources for 30 Native American family members presenting en masse following their loved one’s death; an illegal foreign national patient without any funding for services post-discharge, the discharge plan requiring medication; patients requiring durable medical equipment and rehabilitation; out-of-state visitors triaged to the center requiring transportation home, which is six hours away; respecting and adhering to religious beliefs of the exsanguinating Jehovah Witnesses patient refusing blood products; discussing organ donation of a teenager; homicides; suicides; psychiatric crises; and the always varying ages and socioeconomic situations of infants, teens, elderly, professionals, homeless, high-profile celebrities, and the “John Doe” unidentified patients.

Whew.