Handbook of Complex Occupational Disability Claims: Early Risk Identification, Intervention, and Prevention

About the Book

Chronic back and neck pain. Whiplash. Fibromyalgia. Carpal tunnel syndrome. Intractable headaches. Depression. Anxiety and posttraumatic stress. Concussion. More than ever, the term workplace disabilities is synonymous with greater clinical and case management complexity and escalating personal, social, occupational and economic cost. Complex illnesses and injuries that defy a traditional medical management model continue to baffle medical, mental health, rehabilitation, compensation, corporate, and legal professionals despite new advances in diagnosis, prevention, and rehabilitation. The Handbook of Complex Occupational Disability Claims: Early Risk Identification, Intervention and Prevention cuts through the confusion by integrating current theories and findings into a state-of-the-art tool for critical thinking, decision making, and effective practice.

A book that synthesizes so many diverse viewpoints has the potential to influence both policy and practice across disciplines and cut through politicization of these still poorly understood conditions with evidence. The Handbook is important reading for all clinicians, professionals, and members of rehabilitation and disability management teams, across healthcare, occupational and compensation settings.

Table of Contents:
Conceptual and Methodological Issues in Prediction of Disability.- Do We Have a Disability Epidemic?.- Impairment and Occupational Disability in Research and Practice.- Models of Diagnosis and Rehabilitation in Musculoskeletal Pain-Related Occupational Disability.- Readiness for Return to Work Following Injury or Illness.- Prediction of Occupational Disability.- Musculoskeletal Injury.- Outcome Measures in Prediction of Occupational Disability.- Tailoring Psychosocial Treatment for Patients with Occupational Disability.- Prediction of Disability in Pain-Related and Psychological Conditions.- Determinants of Occupational Disability Following a Low Back Injury.- Biopsychosocial Multivariate Predictive Model of Occupational Low Back Disability.- Whiplash and Neck Pain-Related Disability.- Disability in Fibromyalgia.- Musculoskeletal Disorders,Disability, and Return-to-Work (Repetitive Strain).- Predicting Disability from Headache.- Prediction of Disability after Mild Traumatic Brain Injury.- Prediction of Vocational Functioning from Neuropsychological Data.- The Role of Individual Factors in Predicting Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.- Posttraumatic Stress Disability after Motor Vehicle Accidents.- Disability Following Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.- The Prediction of Occupational Disability Related to Depressive and Anxiety Disorders.- Application of Disability Prediction in Compensation, Health Care, and Occupational Contexts.- Secondary Prevention in Health-Care and Occupational Settings in Musculoskeletal Conditions Focusing on Low Back Pain.- Biopsychosocial Factors in Complex Claims for Disability Compensation.- Secondary Gains and Losses in the Medicolegal Setting.- Evidence-Informed Best Practices for Injured Workers at Risk for Disability at the Subacute Stage.- Early Intervention with At-Risk Groups.- Early Interventions for “At Risk” Patients with Spinal Pain.- Working with the Employer.- An Early Screening and Intervention Model for Acute and Subacute Low Back Pain.- The CtdMAP™ Intervention Program© for Musculoskeletal Disorders.- Where are We Now and Where are We Headed?.- Research and Practice Directions in Risk for Disability Prediction and Early Intervention.

Review :
From the reviews: "There is no doubt that skyrocketing disability claims are having a profound monetary and social impact on Western societies. Leading this explosion are the biopsychosocial disabilities that have proved elusive to standard modeling. Schultz and Gatchel have created a repository of new knowledge about these disabilities, with some practical suggestions on how to integrate this knowledge effectively into clinical, case-management, rehabilitation, corporate, compensation, and return-to-work practices. Albert Einstein is reported to have said that 'the significant problems we face cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them.' This book does an admirable job of presenting a new paradigm to better address this challenging problem." Brian E.Grottkau, M.D., Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA Excerpted from The New England Journal of Medicine, August 31, 2006 "The Handbook of Complex Occupational Disability Claims... is a timely text that synthesizes a copious amount of research and clinical data pertaining to a number of poorly defined medical conditions into an authoritative tool for use in practice across multiple disciplines. It should be considered mandatory reading for clinicians, rehabilitation specialists, case managers, and other professionals involved in occupational disability cases and claims management." Bruce A. Barron, Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY Excerpted from the Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation "An excellent text that is truly worthwhile in its scope, coverage and depth of information. The impetus for this handbook stems from the contention that the United States and other developed Western nations are in the midst of an epidemic. This epidemic is composed of escalating occupational disability and skyrocketing economic costs. ... It admirably summarizes the literature on risk factors and reviews the programs developed ... that intervene with the at-risk group. In terms of scope and level of comprehensiveness, no comparable text exists." (John A. Dooley, PsycCRITIQUES, Vol. 51 (8), 2006)