Contributor

Lauren Finestone

Articles by ‘Lauren Finestone’
Self-management of ongoing pain — ideal but still elusive

By combining psychology-based skills with traditional pain management approaches healthcare providers can offer their patients a more comprehensive approach to managing pain.

‘Even the lone ranger had Tonto’ — the unintended consequences of pain self-management

Dr Karen Rodham, Senior Lecturer in Health Psychology at the University of Chichester, cautions against the ‘blame, shame and inflame game’ of self-management.

A WISE adaptation of a success story — Australia Post’s Early Matched Care Program (Part 1)

Melanie Ianssen, Head of Rehabilitation at Australia Post, describes how that organisation adapted the WISE study to improve RTW outcomes for their injured workers.

A WISE adaptation of a success story — Australia Post’s Early Matched Care Program (Part 2)

Melanie Ianssen, Head of Rehabilitation at Australia Post, describes how that organisation adapted the WISE study to improve RTW outcomes for their injured workers. What were the results?

From pain to possibility — the role of resilience in long-term pain management

Some science-backed, practical things you can do to help people you work with ‘bounce forward’ from their experience of living with persistent pain.

‘We started with bananas’ — self-managing the culture of a small business

One of the rewarding things about having a self-managed company can be empowering workers to reach their full potential and creating a workplace where everyone can thrive. A small business owner...

The vicious cycle of pain and anxiety — and how to tame the anxious wolf

Practical evidence-based tips for dealing with pain-related anxiety, or helping someone else deal with it.

EAST-ern medicine — how behavioural science can help people self-manage their health and wellbeing

A guide about what drives our behaviour can help people living with long-term conditions and those who support them get started (and stay) on a journey of self-management. It can also help prevent...

A new guide to help primary care practitioners treat people with low back pain

There's a new guide for primary care practitioners who work with people with low back pain.

Job crafting — another way to self-manage long-term pain problems

Self-management of long-term pain conditions doesn’t just mean doing things to manage the physical symptoms of the condition. It can also involve other ways to improve overall quality of life —...

Managing musculoskeletal conditions at work (Part 3) — your legal rights and responsibilities

A legal expert talks about rights and responsibilities at work if someone has musculoskeletal condition.

Managing musculoskeletal conditions at work (Part 2) — 6 steps to a job change

For some people with back pain or other musculoskeletal conditions, self-management may mean finding a different job. An occupational rehabilitation consultant sets out 6 steps to successfully...

Threading the needle (Part 1) — tips for managing RTW for injured or ill workers

Safework Australia's new guide helps supervisors in small and medium businesses tread the tricky path of managing RTW for ill or injured workers.

Threading the needle (Part 2) — tips for managing RTW for injured or ill workers

Safework Australia has new guide helps supervisors in small and medium businesses tread the tricky path of managing RTW for ill or injured workers.

Managing musculoskeletal conditions at work (Part 1) — breaking the boom and bust cycle

A musculoskeletal physiotherapist talks about what pain is, ‘boom and bust behaviour’, activity pacing, making a flare-up plan and other useful self-management tips.

From the inside out — behaviour change tips and techniques to manage osteoarthritis

Behaviour change techniques to overcome the challenges of trying to stick to a management plan.

Pain sites — the best self-management podcasts and websites

We’ve created a list of the best evidence-based websites and podcasts to help people with chronic pain — and the healthcare practitioners and RTW professional who help them — manage their...

From dictator to facilitator — reframing the role of therapists in patient care

We’ve been discussing the role of physiotherapy in self-management for decades – how much progress have we made?

Return to work is everybody’s business — how everyone can be part of the solution

Catherine Day, Director of Employer Supervision and Return to Work at SIRA, outlines SIRA's work to improve declining RTW rates in NSW

The ‘Four Cs’ of supporting workers with long Covid symptoms return to work

Thousands of workers with long Covid are, and will continue to be, exploring return to work. Dr Dominic Yong, a senior occupational physician with the Victorian Department of Health, provides tips...

‘Be more human, think like a customer’ — the importance of empathy and connection in case management

When injured workers reflect on their workers' comp claims experience, it's how their claims manager made them feel, not what they told them, that they remember. QBE’s Customer Excellence Program...

Words, language and collaboration matter in returning to ‘good work’

Four experts discuss the idea of ‘good work’ and how collaboration can achieve better outcomes for injured workers.

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

Independent medical examinations are one of many factors in our compensation system that can enhance or impede workers’ recovery and RTW. There are things that case managers can do to swing the...

IMEs as forces for healing, not harming — Part 2: healthcare providers

Independent medical examinations are a healthcare issue that contributes to poorer outcomes for injured workers. What does the research say about how healthcare providers can make a positive...

Comcare’s management of IMEs — the Commonwealth Ombudsman takes a look

The Commonwealth Ombudsman’s investigation into Comcare’s management of IMEs addresses reports of unreasonable and unethical behaviour and offers up suggestions for improvement.

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

An innovative technology-supported model of rehabilitation takes remote therapy to another level. And achieves impressive results for injured workers.

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

What challenges do RTW Coordinators face? And what training and other needs do they have to do their jobs with confidence?

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

Telerehabilitation on pain and disability in patients with spine pain achieved more improvement than 'hands-on' treatment.

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

The new Low Back Pain Clinical Care Standard aims to make sure patients with this common condition get the best outcomes.

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

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

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

In a study, one in 4 workers with long-duration workers compensation claims moved onto Centrelink payments after workers’ compensation benefits stopped — or 1 in 2 if their payments stopped...

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

A new approach to manage chronic musculoskeletal needs many scheme participants to commit to a ‘paradigm shift’.

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

Regulators can constructively influence our work injury scheme through encouragement, engagement and skilling up the industry.

Regulation toolkit: compliance as a way to influence RTW

Workers get the bad press, but other scheme participants behave in ways that are unethical. This article looks how regulators can constructively influence our work injury scheme through their...

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

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

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

Three union advocates give us their insights into the factors that can help improve RTW outcomes for workers, particularly those with psychological injuries.

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

Practical suggestions for how physiotherapists and other healthcare practitioners can provide ‘work focused healthcare’ to help the worker and the workplace.

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

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

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

Patients are encouraged to ‘self-manage’ their chronic pain conditions. But there are external and personal factors that will either help or hinder their ability to do this. And healthcare...

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

RTW practices are a team sport. WorkCover Queensland’s Injury Risk Reduction Initiatives show what can be done when injury scheme players work collaboratively to reduce the barriers to recovery...

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

In Part 1 we introduced IRRI — WorkCover Queensland’s Injury Risk Reduction Initiatives. In this follow up article we look specifically at some of the projects that target workplace mental health,...

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

What do we know about how workers access, understand and engage with information about workers compensation, return to work and health literacy? A recent report commissioned by Safe Work Australia...

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

A ‘recovering interventional spine physiatrist’ makes the case for spine clinicians paying more attention to what patients know and say about their low back pain.

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

The ‘Principles on the role of the GP in supporting worker participation’ provide guidance to GPs and other work injury scheme participants on how they can work together to support workers’...

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

Implementing evidence-based interventions to improve how we care for workers is not easy. Are there things we can do in our organisations to create the conditions that support ‘organisational...

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

In our ongoing quest to find ways to translate research into practice in our work injury schemes, we ask ‘What we can learn from complexity thinking?

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

General practitioners clearly play a critical role and we ask them to do a lot in a complex environment with multiple stakeholders. What is their experience of the work injury insurance system in...

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

A partnership between researchers and a workers compensation insurer (WorkCover Queensland) is an example of what can be done when evidence informs practice.

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

An important policy paper — It pays to care — calls for a conversation about, and action on, how we can work together to improve health and recovery outcomes and reduce the barriers to care for...

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

The 'It Pays to Care' report calls for change in our work injury schemes, but recognises that change is hard, even when we know what we need to do. One model that looks at ‘organisational...

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

Our standard pathway of care in injury management leads to low value care and over-investigation, over-diagnosis and over-treatment. Dr Mary Wyatt, Occupational Physician, presents some ideas to...

The power of choosing our mindset

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

‘WorkWell: Preventing mental injury and promoting mental health’

There are 11 work-related factors that employers must identify and manage to prevent mental injury and promote safe and mentally healthy workplaces.

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

How can we better to identify and support workers who are risk of developing secondary psychological conditions, and prevent them from occurring in the first place?

‘I can do that’ — how building self-efficacy can support workers return to work

How to help build self-efficacy — tips for supporting a worker who may have lost confidence after being away from work.

'I want to do that' — the importance of autonomy, competence and relatedness

We all have 3 basic psychological needs that must be fulfilled if we are to do well and feel good at work. What are they?