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.

How Return to Work SA’s Surgery Assist program is enhancing recovery and RTW — Part 2

contributorLauren Finestone

Return to Work SA’s approach to supporting injured workers through surgery and recovery is...

How Return to Work SA’s Surgery Assist program is enhancing recovery and RTW — Part 1

contributorLauren Finestone

Return to Work SA’s approach to supporting injured workers through surgery and recovery is...

Why the right type of conflict can be good for workplaces

contributorLauren Finestone

We should spend more time not trying to eliminate conflict at work but creating the ‘right kinds...

Are you aware of your biases? And how can you keep them in check?

contributorLauren Finestone

Are you aware of your biases? Or are they unconscious? And what does this mean for how you make...

Small business, big support — a coaching service for mental wellness and business success

contributorLauren Finestone

Beyond Blue’s New Access for Small Business Owners service (NASBO) is providing valuable mental...

Collaboration is key in RTW. But what makes it easy or hard to do?

contributorLauren Finestone

A study suggests some basic conditions are needed for achieving ‘easy’ collaboration between...

BeHealth — a digital answer to employee mental health challenges

contributorLauren Finestone

An innovative digital mental health program offers a blueprint for employers keen to support...

StressModex — the online training for clinicians revolutionising whiplash treatment

contributorLauren Finestone

At the Research to Real World for Compensable Injury Symposium in June 2024, Professor Sterling...

Webinar recording — Medical case conferences: A field guide to building trust

contributorRhea Mercado

Rhea Mercado of The Intelligent Rebellion delivers an engaging webinar that explores the...

The role of physiotherapy in certification of capacity for work — the Victorian experience

contributorLauren Finestone

We summarise a presentation by Paul Coburn at the Research to Real World for Compensable Injury...

Walking back low back pain

contributorLauren Finestone

An article in The Conversation covers a study published in The Lancet that found that a program...

The case for empathy — not just a buzzword in workers’ comp

contributorLauren Finestone

Empathy is not just a buzzword in workers' compensation. It’s a powerful tool that can transform...

Navigating whiplash online — does an e-resource help insurers and clinicians?

contributorLauren Finestone

This is a summary of a presentation by Professor Rebbeck and Dr Carvalho-e-Silva at the Research...

New guidelines for treating PTSD in emergency workers

contributorLauren Finestone

New guidelines provide more detailed guidance on how to assess, treat and manage the...

Webinar recording: Manufacturing Healthy Minds

contributorMegan Kelly

Hear about the Manufacturing Healthy Minds Program implemented at BOC Gases, a mental health...

Early intervention in workers’ comp — an overview

contributorLauren Finestone

A report gives a snapshot of current early intervention practices, experiences and beliefs in...

It’s time to bring a wide-angle lens to understanding pain

contributorLauren Finestone

Taking a wide-angle view of pain — one that looks beyond the physical to encompass the...

The power of tiny habits — how small, consistent actions can support injured or ill workers on their RTW journey

contributorLauren Finestone

By harnessing the science of tiny habits, injured or ill workers can make their RTW journey more...

A successful RTW pilot takes flight

contributorLauren Finestone

After a highly successful pilot program to help people get back to work, Comcare is offering the...

From health tourist to driver — recovery-oriented messages from Professor Peter O’Sullivan

contributorLauren Finestone

Professor Peter O’Sullivan discusses what he sees as the problems with our current models of...

Webinar recording: Transforming back pain management through a public health campaign — a comprehensive analysis

contributorDr Mary Wyatt

This webinar explores the effectiveness of a public health intervention implemented in Victoria,...

The current state of psychological health and safety in the workplace

contributorLauren Finestone

A Safe Work Australia report paints the most up-to-date picture of workers’ experiences of...

Speak to recover — the art of messaging in injury care (Part 3)

contributorDr Mary Wyatt

Dr Mary Wyatt explores the effects of communication on work-related injuries. In the final part...

Speak to recover — the art of messaging in injury care (Part 2)

contributorDr Mary Wyatt

Dr Mary Wyatt explores the effects of communication on work-related injuries. In Part 2 of this...

Webinar recording: Wellbeing following finalisation of a workers’ compensation claim — A systematic scoping review

contributorJames Weir

Hear from Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist, James Weir on his research into the wellbeing...

‘How I explain common conditions to my patients’ — messages from a chiropractor

contributorLauren Finestone

Rob Beaven, chiropractor, blogger and host of The back pain podcast, tells us how he explains...

Speak to recover — the art of messaging in injury care (Part 1)

contributorDr Mary Wyatt

Dr Mary Wyatt explores the effects of communication on work-related injuries.

‘Pain Factory’ exposes chronic pain care — and The Conversation picks up the baton

contributorRTWMatters team

Two articles in The Conversation pick up on revelations in the recent Four Corners episode on...

‘You’re speaking my language’ — how to translate research into action and real change

contributorLauren Finestone

A case study shows how ‘intermediaries’ — like work injury scheme stakeholders — can take the...

Workers’ compensation re-imagined from a lived experience perspective — Part 2

contributorLauren Finestone

What would a workers’ compensation scheme designed by people with lived experience of such...

Webinar recording: Speak to recover — the art of messaging in injury care

contributorDr Mary Wyatt

Dr Mary Wyatt explores the effects of messaging on managing work-related injuries. She uses 2...

Workers’ compensation re-imagined from a lived experience perspective — Part 1

contributorLauren Finestone

What would a workers’ compensation scheme designed by people with lived experience of such...

Evidence-based messages about self-management

contributorLauren Finestone

Messages that empower people to self-manage their injuries contribute to better RTW and recovery...

The feel-good factor — why your thoughts and emotions matter to recovery

contributorLauren Finestone

Injured workers will benefit from the message that their thoughts and emotions can affect how...

Nine to thrive — the health benefits of work

contributorLauren Finestone

An important message for healthcare providers to give injured workers is that working is good...

Webinar recording: How WorkCover Queensland commenced their journey to implementing value based healthcare

contributorTanya Cambey

Tanya Cambey, Specialist Lead at WorkCover Queensland, talks us through WorkCover’s vision and...

It pays to share (evidence-based messages)

contributorRTWMatters team

Ten reasons to share the key messages from It Pays To Care with everyone who works with workers’...

When inactivity hurts and movement heals

contributorLauren Finestone

An important message for healthcare providers to give injured workers is that inactivity is more...