Effects of a tailored multidisciplinary counselling intervention to support the adjustment process after a traumatic injury: a randomized controlled trial.

Purpose: To investigate the efficacy of a tailored counselling intervention for injured workers regarding different aspects of subjective well-being.

Materials And Methods: Prospective randomized controlled trial with 192 mildly-to-moderately injured workers who were on sick leave for at least 18 weeks and showed a high-risk profile for a complicated rehabilitation process in a screening. Patients were assessed at baseline, 12 and 18 months post-injury.

The reproducibility of psychiatric evaluations of work disability: two reliability and agreement studies.

Background: Expert psychiatrists conducting work disability evaluations often disagree on work capacity (WC) when assessing the same patient. More structured and standardised evaluations focusing on function could improve agreement. The RELY studies aimed to establish the inter-rater reproducibility (reliability and agreement) of 'functional evaluations' in patients with mental disorders applying for disability benefits and to compare the effect of limited versus intensive expert training on reproducibility.

Use of a structured functional evaluation process for independent medical evaluations of claimants presenting with disabling mental illness: rationale and design for a multi-center reliability study.

Background: Work capacity evaluations by independent medical experts are widely used to inform insurers whether injured or ill workers are capable of engaging in competitive employment. In many countries, evaluation processes lack a clearly structured approach, standardized instruments, and an explicit focus on claimants' functional abilities. Evaluation of subjective complaints, such as mental illness, present additional challenges in the determination of work capacity.

Work and Health Questionnaire (WHQ): A Screening Tool for Identifying Injured Workers at Risk for a Complicated Rehabilitation.

Purpose Unintentional injuries occur frequently and many of the accident survivors suffer from temporary or permanent disabilities. Although most accident victims recover quickly, a significant fraction of them shows a complicated recovery process and accounts for the majority of disability costs. Thus, early identification of vulnerable persons may be beneficial for compensation schemes, government bodies, as well as for the worker themselves.

Attitudes towards evaluation of psychiatric disability claims: a survey of Swiss stakeholders.

Questions: In Switzerland, evaluation of work capacity in individuals with mental disorders has come under criticism. We surveyed stakeholders about their concerns and expectations of the current claim process.

Methods: We conducted a nationwide online survey among five stakeholder groups.

Evaluation of work capacity in Switzerland: a survey among psychiatrists about practice and problems.

Questions Under Study: In Switzerland, psychiatric evaluations of work capacity for determining a person's eligibility for disability benefits are being criticised for a lack of transparency and high inter-rater variability. The aims of this study were to learn about the current practice of psychiatrists, to explore possible sources for lack of transparency and variability, and to contrast practice with current professional guidance.

Methods: A national online-survey among psychiatrists who performed five or more evaluations of work capacity per year.

Predictors of depressed mood 12 months after injury. Contribution of self-efficacy and social support.

Purpose: There is evidence that depressed mood and perception of pain are related in patients with chronic illness. However, how individual resources such as self-efficacy and social support play a role in this association remains unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of both variables as either moderator or mediator.

[Schizophrenia in the German national paper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung -- a didactic play].

The Basel Project on Psychiatry and the Printed Media has focussed on the role of the media in the development and enhancement of prejudice and stigma against the mentally ill. Analyzing the reporting of the German national paper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on schizophrenia we show a gap between the competent reporting on the illness schizophrenia and a devaluating use of schizophrenia as a metaphor. This is of special importance since almost three fifth of the identified articles (48 of 83) use schizophrenia as a metaphor.