<< Click to Display Table of Contents >> Navigation:  The 3-step system: Triage, assessment and matched intervention > Matched care interventions to address the identified psychosocial barriers

In this section we outline the 3-step system of psychosocial matched care. This section focuses on how the third step—matched care interventions.

Once a worker’s specific psychosocial barriers are identified through screening and assessment, interventions should be tailored to their needs. The key elements of matched care include:

•Biopsychosocial counselling (for managing distress, recovery fears, and self-efficacy).

•Workplace support (addressing RTW challenges, employer engagement).

•Medical coordination (ensuring a collaborative approach between healthcare providers).

The success of matched care relies on a structured but flexible approach, ensuring interventions are implemented early and adjusted as needed.

Psychosocial matched care systems are part of a broader movement towards personalised or ‘precision’ medicine, which emphasises the customisation of healthcare so that decisions, practices and products are tailored to the individual patient. This approach aims to improve outcomes by providing more specific treatments and increase efficiency within healthcare systems by avoiding less effective, generalised treatments.

Implementing matched care effectively requires a robust understanding of the different interventions that are available and their suitability for different people.