Effectiveness and Characteristics of Work Participation Interventions for Adults with Musculoskeletal Upper Limb Conditions: A Systematic Review.

Purpose: To systematically identify and evaluate interventions to improve work participation for adults with upper limb musculoskeletal conditions, and explore contextual factors and mechanisms that suggest how the intervention is effective, for whom, and in what setting.

Methods: The review protocol was pre-registered with PROSPERO (CRD42023433216). Eligible studies met the following criteria.

Cohort profile: working age adults accessing secondary mental health services in South London (UK) and benefits - a data linkage of electronic mental health records and benefits data.

Introduction: In the UK, mental disorders are one of the most common reasons for claiming a benefit relating to unemployment, income, sickness and disability. Limited information exists regarding the demographic characteristics and psychiatric profiles of working age individuals claiming benefits in London. Until recently, detailed data on both mental disorders and benefit receipt were unavailable.

Personal independence payments among people who access mental health services: results from a novel data linkage.

Background: Personal independence payment (PIP) is a benefit that covers additional daily living costs people may incur from a long-term health condition or disability. Little is known about PIP receipt and associated factors among people who access mental health services, and trends over time. Individual-level data linking healthcare records with administrative records on benefits receipt have been non-existent in the UK.

Occupational support following arthroplasty of the lower limb (OPAL): trial protocol for a UK-wide phase III randomised controlled trial.

Background: In the UK, one in four patients are in work at the time of their hip or knee replacement surgery. These patients receive little support about their return to work (RTW). There is a need for an occupational support intervention that encourages safe and sustained RTW which can be integrated into National Health Service practice.

Long COVID among healthcare workers: a narrative review of definitions, prevalence, symptoms, risk factors and impacts.

Introduction: Long COVID (LC) occurs when people experience symptoms for weeks, months or even years after a COVID-19 infection. This review looks at research exploring the LC definitions, prevalence, symptoms, risk factors, and associated impacts in research on healthcare workers (HCWs).

Data Sources: We systematically searched five electronic databases (CINAHL, EMBASE, Medline, PsycInfo and PubMed) and compiled a narrative literature review based on 56 relevant studies.

Universal Credit receipt among working-age patients who are accessing specialist mental health services: results from a novel data linkage study.

Background: In 2013, Universal Credit (UC) was introduced by the UK Government. Understanding of how UC provision is allocated among people with mental disorders, and its intersection with protected characteristics is limited. This study aimed to explore (1) how UC receipt, including UC conditionality regime, varied among users of specialist mental health services between 2013 and 2019 and (2) associations between sociodemographic and diagnostic patient characteristics and UC receipt.

Supporting work participation for adults with hand and upper limb conditions: A survey of the British Association of hand therapists.

Introduction: Musculoskeletal disorders affect over a third of the UK adult population and are a common reason for sick leave from work. The aims of this study were to describe the reported provision of work participation support for adults with hand and upper limb conditions by UK hand therapists, and to identify potential training needs in this area.

Methods: A previous survey of the Australian Hand Therapy Association was adapted for the UK.

Risk factors for the progression to multimorbidity among UK urban working-age adults. A community cohort study.

Objectives: The progression of long-term conditions (LTCs) from zero-to-one (initiation), and from one-to-many (progression)are common trajectories that impact a person's quality of life including their ability to work. This study aimed to explore the demographic, socioeconomic, psychosocial, and health-related determinants of LTC initiation and progression, with a focus on work participation.

Methods: Data from 622 working-age adults who had completed two waves (baseline and follow-up) of the South-East London Community Health survey were analysed.

Anomalies in the review process and interpretation of the evidence in the NICE guideline for chronic fatigue syndrome and myalgic encephalomyelitis.

Chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) is a disabling long-term condition of unknown cause. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published a guideline in 2021 that highlighted the seriousness of the condition, but also recommended that graded exercise therapy (GET) should not be used and cognitive-behavioural therapy should only be used to manage symptoms and reduce distress, not to aid recovery. This U-turn in recommendations from the previous 2007 guideline is controversial.

Constructing therapeutic support and negotiating competing agendas: A discourse analysis of vocational advice provided to individuals who are absent from work due to ill-health.

Work participation is known to benefit people's overall health and wellbeing, but accessing vocational support during periods of sickness absence to facilitate return-to-work can be challenging for many people. In this study, we explored how vocational advice was delivered by trained vocational support workers (VSWs) to people who had been signed-off from work by their General Practitioner (GP), as part of a feasibility study testing a vocational advice intervention. We investigated the discursive and interactional strategies employed by VSWs and people absent from work, to pursue their joint and respective goals.

Which outcomes should always be measured in intervention studies for improving work participation for people with a health problem? An international multistakeholder Delphi study to develop a core outcome set for Work participation (COS for Work).

Objective: Synthesising evidence of the effects of interventions to improve work participation among people with health problems is currently difficult due to heterogeneity in outcome measurements. A core outcome set for work participation is needed.

Study Design And Setting: Following the Core Outcome Measures in Effectiveness Trials methodology, we used a five-step approach to reach international multistakeholder consensus on a core outcome set for work participation.

Linking electronic mental healthcare and benefits records in South London: design, procedure and descriptive outcomes.

Objectives: To describe the process and outcomes of a data linkage between electronic secondary mental healthcare records from the South London and Maudsley (SLaM) NHS Foundation Trust with benefits records from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). We also describe the mental health and benefit profile of patients who were successfully linked.

Design: A deterministic linkage of routine records from health and welfare government service providers within a secure environment.

'You get looked at like you're failing': A reflexive thematic analysis of experiences of mental health and wellbeing support for NHS staff.

Staff in the National Health Service (NHS) are under considerable strain, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic; whilst NHS Trusts provide a variety of health and wellbeing support services, there has been little research investigating staff perceptions of these services. We interviewed 48 healthcare workers from 18 NHS Trusts in England about their experiences of workplace health and wellbeing support during the pandemic. Reflexive thematic analysis identified that perceived stigma around help-seeking, and staffing shortages due to wider socio-political contexts such as austerity, were barriers to using support services.

Prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder and common mental disorders in health-care workers in England during the COVID-19 pandemic: a two-phase cross-sectional study.

Background: Previous studies on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of health-care workers have relied on self-reported screening measures to estimate the point prevalence of common mental disorders. Screening measures, which are designed to be sensitive, have low positive predictive value and often overestimate prevalence. We aimed to estimate prevalence of common mental disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among health-care workers in England using diagnostic interviews.

A general framework for selecting work participation outcomes in intervention studies among persons with health problems: a concept paper.

Background: Work participation is important for health and can be considered as engagement in a major area of life which is of significance for most people, but it can also be thought of as fulfilling or discharging a role. Currently, academic research lacks a comprehensive classification of work participation outcomes. The International Classification of Functioning is the foremost model in defining work functioning and its counterpart work disability, but it does not provide a critical (core) set of outcomes.

Long-term health conditions in UK working-age adults: a cross-sectional analysis of associations with demographic, socioeconomic, psychosocial and health-related factors in an inner-city population.

Objectives: To study the overall disease prevalence, and associations between demographic, socioeconomic, psychosocial, and health-related factors, and self-reporting one or more long-term health conditions (LTCs) in a working-age inner-city population.

Design: Cross-sectional household-based survey with a follow-up timepoint.

Setting: South-East London Community Health survey data.

Driving, work, wound care and rehabilitation after carpal tunnel release: Consensus recommendations from a UK Delphi study.

Introduction: There is variability in the information available for patients after carpal tunnel release (CTR). We aimed to establish (i) what advice should be provided regarding return to driving after CTR; (ii) how work activities should be categorised and defined in relation to CTR, and when patients should be recommended to return to these activities; (iii) what wound care and rehabilitation advice should be provided after CTR.

Methods: We developed consensus recommendations from an expert panel of hand surgeons, primary care surgeons and hand therapists using an electronic Delphi process.

Multicentre, England-wide randomised controlled trial of the 'Foundations' smartphone application in improving mental health and well-being in a healthcare worker population.

Background: Healthcare workers (HCWs) have faced considerable pressures during the COVID-19 pandemic. For some, this has resulted in mental health distress and disorder. Although interventions have sought to support HCWs, few have been evaluated.

Attitudes and practices of ophthalmology doctors in London (UK) on the importance of discussing work as a clinical outcome with patients during consultations: A cross sectional survey.

Background: Limited research suggests that non-occupational health doctors rarely discuss occupation with their patients. There is a gap in research regarding the attitudes and practices of doctors towards discussing patient occupation and return to work. The aim of this work was to explore the attitudes of ophthalmology doctors towards work as a clinical outcome and assess the need for occupational health training among participants (doctors).