Articles

This page lists all practical and feature articles available on RTWMatters. From top ten tips, how to guides and case studies, through to webinar recordings and video interviews with industry experts.

Click the ‘Topics’ button below to drill down into all articles and research updates on your topic of interest.

Click the ‘Quick Guides’ button for practical bit sized guides that give you a sound basic knowledge base.

IMEs as forces for healing, not harming — Part 1: case managers

contributorLauren Finestone

Independent medical examinations are one of many factors in our compensation system that can...

Webinar recording — Every recovery needs a plan

contributorDr John McMahon

John McMahon, Director of Science at Navigator Group, discusses their Navigator Support Program...

Challenges and opportunities — the lie of the land through the eyes of RTW Coordinators

contributorLauren Finestone

What challenges do RTW Coordinators face? And what training and other needs do they have to do...

Recovery at home — the overARChing intent of an innovative rehab model

contributorLauren Finestone

An innovative technology-supported model of rehabilitation takes remote therapy to another...

New clinical care standard for low back pain — a story of hope

contributorLauren Finestone

The new Low Back Pain Clinical Care Standard aims to make sure patients with this common...

Telerehabilitation for spine pain in the lockdown era — not the same, but better

contributorLauren Finestone

Telerehabilitation on pain and disability in patients with spine pain achieved more improvement...

Webinar recording: Q&A with ReturnToWorkSA – Lighting the way for RTW Coordinators

contributorHouda Peters

In this Q&A session, Mary Wyatt interviews ReturnToWorkSA Employer Education Advisor, Houda...

What happens to workers when their long duration compensation claims stop?

contributorLauren Finestone

In a study, one in 4 workers with long-duration workers compensation claims moved onto...

Get out the barometer — your organisation's psychosocial safety climate predicts RTW

contributorLauren Finestone

Senior management teams can be ‘psychosocial safety climate’ engineers.

'Above all, do no harm'. Towards a therapeutic approach to workers’ compensation.

contributorLauren Finestone

Is the concept of ‘Above all, do no harm’ relevant to our workers compensation schemes?

Regulation toolkit: compliance as a way to influence RTW

contributorLauren Finestone

Workers get the bad press, but other scheme participants behave in ways that are unethical. This...

Regulation toolkit: encouragement, engagement and upskilling as a way to influence RTW

contributorLauren Finestone

Regulators can constructively influence our work injury scheme through encouragement, engagement...

Caring for people with chronic musculoskeletal pain — a paradigm shift to solve a 'super wicked problem'

contributorLauren Finestone

A new approach to manage chronic musculoskeletal needs many scheme participants to commit to a...

RTW: from policy to practice — union views from the coalface

contributorLauren Finestone

Three union advocates give us their insights into the factors that can help improve RTW outcomes...

Webinar recording — Reducing incidences of violence and aggression against aged care workers

contributorTatjana Jokic

Tatjana Jokic talks us through the aims, implementation and outcomes of a successful pilot...

Help researchers understand how the support needs of injured workers are determined

contributorOlwyn Anderson

A Griffith University study seeks injured workers and personnel involved in determination of the...

Work-focused health care: practical suggestions for how to do it

contributorLauren Finestone

Practical suggestions for how physiotherapists and other healthcare practitioners can provide...

IRRI-sistable (Part 2) — tipping the scales towards fewer workplace mental health injuries

contributorLauren Finestone

In Part 1 we introduced IRRI — WorkCover Queensland’s Injury Risk Reduction Initiatives. In this...

IRRI-sistable (Part 1) — WorkCover Queensland’s Injury Risk Reduction Initiatives improve outcomes for all

contributorLauren Finestone

RTW practices are a team sport. WorkCover Queensland’s Injury Risk Reduction Initiatives show...

‘Self-management’ of chronic musculoskeletal pain: what patients say helps them do it (or not)

contributorLauren Finestone

Patients are encouraged to ‘self-manage’ their chronic pain conditions. But there are external...

10 common unhelpful beliefs about low back pain, and 10 facts to set us straight

contributorLauren Finestone

10 common and unhelpful myths about low back pain, and 10 facts that bust them.

In the hands of the gods? Spinal injuries from a worker’s perspective

contributorLauren Finestone

A ‘recovering interventional spine physiatrist’ makes the case for spine clinicians paying more...

‘Workers’ what?’ Information about workers’ compensation falls short

contributorLauren Finestone

What do we know about how workers access, understand and engage with information about workers...

Webinar recording — It pays to care: from policy to practice

contributorDr Mary Wyatt

Dr Mary Wyatt introduces the Australasian Faculty of Occupational and Environmental Medicine's...

Did you know? We have principles that help GPs in their role to support work participation

contributorLauren Finestone

The ‘Principles on the role of the GP in supporting worker participation’ provide guidance to...

Claims intake at WorkCover Queensland — Insights from the introduction of a biopsychosocial framework

contributorLauren Finestone

A partnership between researchers and a workers compensation insurer (WorkCover Queensland) is...

The role of general practitioners in worker rehabilitation — insights from the research

contributorLauren Finestone

General practitioners clearly play a critical role and we ask them to do a lot in a complex...

RTW: from research to practice. The ‘know-do gap’ through a complex systems lens

contributorLauren Finestone

In our ongoing quest to find ways to translate research into practice in our work injury...

RTW: from policy to practice. Is your organisation ready for change?

contributorLauren Finestone

Implementing evidence-based interventions to improve how we care for workers is not easy. Are...

Webinar recording — Thrive at Work: Prevent harm through SMART work design

contributorSajani Fernando

Evidence-based strategies for organisations to support employees across the full spectrum of...

‘An epidemic of useless and often harmful care’ — Part 1

contributorLauren Finestone

Our standard pathway of care in injury management leads to low value care and...

RTW: from policy to practice. How to make change happen

contributorLauren Finestone

The 'It Pays to Care' report calls for change in our work injury schemes, but recognises that...

RTW: from policy to practice. An imperative for change and call to action

contributorLauren Finestone

An important policy paper — It pays to care — calls for a conversation about, and action on, how...

‘WorkWell: Preventing mental injury and promoting mental health’

contributorLauren Finestone

There are 11 work-related factors that employers must identify and manage to prevent mental...

The power of choosing our mindset

contributorLauren Finestone

Tips to help develop a mindset that builds resilience and helps us deal with challenging...

Webinar recording - WorkWell: Preventing mental injury and promoting mental health

contributorJennifer Fry

In this webinar, Jennifer Fry, Director of WorkWell at WorkSafe Victoria, shares free tools and...

What do we know about secondary psychological conditions after a physical work injury?

contributorLauren Finestone

How can we better to identify and support workers who are risk of developing secondary...

Webinar recording — New insights into healthcare use in Australian workers’ compensation schemes.

contributorProfessor Alex Collie & Dr Mary Wyatt

In this webinar Professor Alex Collie, Director of the Healthy Working Life Research Group and...

Webinar recording: Wellbeing and Mental Health – Building inner resilience and supporting others in 2022 - Beyond Blue

contributorMel Novak

Small business owners have been doing it tough for a long time and statistics are demonstrating...

Look and see - highlighting the impact of psychological hazards on police

contributorDr Nick Ford & John Schumann

‘Real stories from real cops’—how to recognise and reduce the impact of psychological hazards on...