Articles

Recognising psychosocial barriers early

Dr Mary Wyatt

The difference between a smooth recovery and return to work and one that stalls usually comes down to noticing and acting on the psychosocial signals that show up in the first few weeks.

Most people with a work injury recover and go back to work without much trouble. But the group at risk of a long, difficult recovery is not small. Where structured screening is used, typically 30 to 50% of injured workers come out above the elevated-risk cut-off [1], the score that suggests a recovery may need extra support — ordinary people with something extra in the way of recovery.  For some people there is a lot in the way, and t...

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Published 18 August, 2026