Lara Forth | Lara (not her real name) recovers from brain trauma but eventually quits her job and abandons her claim. Why?
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RTWMatters team | Frank Imbesi & Dr Mary Wyatt discuss a case put forward by RTWMatters member Meagan Moravcova.
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Anna Kelsey-Sugg | Have a look at this letter from an employee of one workplace doing fantastic things for injured workers and their RTW - now why aren't letters like these more common?
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Dr Mary Wyatt | There is a correlation between compensation and poorer surgical outcomes. What can be done?
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Scott Sanderson | How 'learned optimism' can improve return to work outcomes: Breaking down Theo Feldbrugge's webinar presentation.
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Dr. Jos Verbeek and Dr. Mary Wyatt | Dr. Jos Verbeek talks about a review of research on training employees to lift to prevent back problems.
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RTWMatters team | Rob Aurbach talks about the neuroplasticity, and the impact of negative messages on pain and return to work
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Dr. Mary Wyatt and Professor Charlotte Leboeuf-Yde | Professor Charlotte Leboeuf-Yde outlines her key findings
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SuperDoc | We all know what happens to that which goes around (it comes around); so why do we sometimes forget that to get respect in the workplace, we have to give it too?
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SuperDoc | Gather round, I've got a story to tell - and it starts with a question...
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Scott Sanderson | Professor Katherine Lippel on Workers' compensation design: How rules and practices may promote or undermine successful return to work
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Scott Sanderson | Dispute Resolution system expert Nerida Wallace explains the important characteristics of a workers' compensation dispute resolution system
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Scott Sanderson | An introduction to Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) processes and their application in the workers' compensation in Australia
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Theo Feldbrugge | Theo Feldbrugge discusses the impact of optimism / pessimism on return to work
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Glenn Pransky | Liberty Mutual Research Instutute for Safety
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Dr Mary Wyatt | Do we have the right expectations? Are there other options?
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Dr Mary Wyatt | When one part of the system underperforms, the others follow suit.
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Dr Mary Wyatt | Disc bulge, disc degeneration, disc protrusion. Terms that worry patients, most of the time unnecessarily.
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Dr Mary Wyatt | Interview with Garry Pearce, Director of Rehabilitation for the Tasmanian Department of Health.
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Dr. Peter Cotton | Understanding workplace morale and quality of management allows improvements to be made. Peter demonstrates the positive correlation.
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Mary Harris | How To Identify the Variables of Chronic Pain To Achieve Holistic Return to Work
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Dr Mary Wyatt | What works and what does not work in the decision making process.
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Ingrid Ozols | An interview with Ingid Ozols, Director of Mental Health@Work
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Gabrielle Lis and Dr. Mary Wyatt | Occupational Physicians have brought together a broad group to join forces on changing beliefs and attitudes to being in work
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Dr Mary Wyatt | World endeavors in disability management and what can be learned from the challenges facing the United Kingdom
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Dr Mary Wyatt | A Powerpoint presentation on the whys and wherefores of supervisor training in rtw management
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Dr Mary Wyatt | A good decision making process is worth its weight in platinum
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Dr Mary Wyatt | How you cannot afford to get it wrong, and how you can get it right.
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Dr Mary Wyatt | Shoulder problems are the second most common work-related musculoskeletal problem. Here's an overview of rotator cuff conditions, the most common cause of shoulder problems.
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Mary Harris | Personal responsibility and partnership are fundamental elements on the road to recovery
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Gabrielle Lis | Is compensation for 9/11 first responders a black and white moral issue, or is the situation more complex?
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Gabrielle Lis | What do gardening, work and dancing have in common? According to occupational therapist Sven Roehr, each is an "occupation" and each has the potential to improve health and promote rehabilitation.
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Dr Mary Wyatt | Love that worker!
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Elizabeth Quinn and Mary Harris | Low in confidence, and down at heart--it can be a difficult and long journey to get back into the workforce. Here's the juice on helping people find a job.
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Mary Harris and Robert Hughes | Written by your Return to Work Matters Team.
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Mary Harris and Tom Barton | How to manage everybody's needs, expectations and obligations during the RTW process.
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Mary Harris and Gabrielle Lis | Are your innovative ideas constantly met with suspicion? This case study from cotton-milling industrial revolution Scotland looks at how tact builds trust--and what squanders it.
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Mary Harris & Shelly Frohrip | The cost-benefit of a successful return to work
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Tom Barton | Pessimistic workers suffer a greater health burden as well as decreased productivity. This second of a two-part series investigates identifying pessimistic thinking in employees, and improving optimism and emotional resilience in the workplace.
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Mary Harris | What lessons a return to work coordinator learned on her own RTW journey.
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Mary Harris and Tom Barton | This first of a two-part series investigates the negative health and work effects of pessimism, and how fostering emotional resilience improves wellness and business.
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Tom Barton | Ever wondered what RTW and sabre-toothed tigers have in common? Or why some people bounce back quicker than others from stressful situations?
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Gabrielle Lis | Socio-economic status, and the ways in which we live and work, all influence health. What about compensation?
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Gabrielle Lis | A prominent South Australian back surgeon has called for workers' comp for back pain to be scrapped. What about fixing treatment instead?
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Dr Mary Wyatt | Do patients who bear some of the costs of treatment have better rehab outcomes? And if so, should workers' comp recipients share treatment costs with their employer?
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Gabrielle Lis | Identify high risk cases BEFORE they bite.
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Dr Mary Wyatt | The use of opiates in chronic pain cases should be carefully monitored. Patients need a high level of support and a good understanding of treatment options.
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Mary Harris and Gabrielle Lis | Workers' comp cases present GPs and other health professionals with opportunities for meaningful patient advocacy. How can these be seized?
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Gabrielle Lis | RTWMatters! We surveyed 111 readers and learned some surprising things about how we help you, and who makes your life difficult.
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Dr Mary Wyatt | Back pain flare-ups are a normal part of recovery.
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SuperDoc | SuperDoc reminisces about his time in the Courts and asks, "Do judges have ANY idea what they're doing?"
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Gabrielle Lis | Etymology - the archaeology of words - sometimes uncovers a contemporary resonance in ancient digs.
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Tom Barton | How one car manufacturer steered their ageing workforce towards higher productivity
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Shelly Frohrip | Vision loss accommodations for RTW and STW
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Mary Harris | Disability management in the workplace; A human resource perspective
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Shannon McLaughlin | When your company's takeover uncovers deficient RTW strategies.
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Dr Mary Wyatt | What do you do with a toxic doctor?
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Gabrielle Lis | The Great Places to Work Institute identifies trust as a key predictor of organizational success. What matters is not only how much others trust you, but how trusting YOU are.
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Gabrielle Lis | An Italian entrepreneur has turned the Umbrian village of Solomeo into both a fashion factory, and an extraordinary experiment in workplace health and well-being.
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Gabrielle Lis | Organizations who offer "good work" have fewer stress and musculoskeletal claims. Managerial competence helps determine whether work is "good". Are American organizations missing the signs?
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Gabrielle Lis | The health and wellbeing of people with chronic illness improves when they become "self-managers." Are there lessons here for RTW?
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Lara Forth | Instead of enjoying their support, Lara felt bullied by her case manager and colleagues. Read her story to see how these attitudes very nearly jeopardized her recovery.
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Lara Forth | ...CAN hurt you. Having an internal injury that nobody sees can make rehabilitation far more difficult. We hear how one worker overcame poor treatment and took control of her own recovery.
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Dr Mary Wyatt | Getting in touch with connections
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Robert Hughes | What is not lived, is not understood.
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Julia Suban | Ever get looked at like YOU'RE a nut when you try and explain what you do? Here's a party-friendly description of RTW coordination!
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Fayth Carrell | Return to work coordination and everything else.
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Julia Suban | What AM I worth? And how does this compare to what prospective employers THINK I'm worth?
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Dr Mary Wyatt | And can the UK show us how it's done?
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Robert Hughes | And why is this knowledge useful to workplaces?
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Dr Mary Wyatt | The first in a series of responses to members' questions, we find that the early bird gets results.
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Anna Kelsey-Sugg | Injury-attitude impacts RTW more than injury-severity, says Monash researcher. Ask questions and listen to unlock the power of a Positive Mental Attitude.
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Dr Mary Wyatt | It's time to question whether some workers should be spared the compensation process.
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Mary Harris | A rehab provider addresses the human impact of injury restarts for a disempowered young worker.
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Dr Mary Wyatt | Supporters say NZ's workers' comp system promotes social justice. Detractors say it is financially unviable. What do the stats suggest?
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SuperDoc | If we can train good superheros (ahem - take yours truly for example) then surely we can train good supervisors.
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Anna Kelsey-Sugg | Causes of stress, and why it will never disappear if we don't encourage the right behaviors.
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SuperDoc | Are stress management programs for managers the key to reducing stress claim costs?
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RTWMatters team | We revise our New Years' tattoo with a little help from a new friend: soon-to-be RTWMatters blogger Richard Green
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Gabrielle Lis | Every workplace has health champions and health underdogs. Motivating the latter can be a real challenge...
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Anna Kelsey-Sugg | Research shows that injury-attitude impacts RTW more than injury-severity. Asking questions and listening is key.
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Anna Kelsey-Sugg | Some regard the courts a necessary evil in injury compensation; but how can they be used to foster good?
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Heather Millar, writer, WorkCover | A case study in motivated RTW from an injured laborer with special incentives for getting back to normal life.
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SuperDoc | SuperDoc talks you through celebrity gossip 101 - and unsheets the spooks of chronic pain
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SuperDoc | What can be done to prevent ordinary and extraordinary patients falling down the rabbit hole of workers' comp?
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Anna Kelsey-Sugg | Six reasons why getting return to work right is worth YOUR time and effort.
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Gabrielle Lis | Listening to workers' perspectives on the system can be painful, but might help us move beyond blame and suspicion.
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Dr Mary Wyatt | Understanding how 'the system' can trip up the people it is supposed to help is the first thread in a safety net.
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Anna Kelsey-Sugg | Not your roll or leftover pasta - but what attitude or outlook do you bring? Find out why it's a question worth asking.
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Bronnie Thompson | A look at the role of the professional in explaining the results of an FCE.
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SuperDoc | There's no such thing as too many chefs in the problem-solving kitchen. Share for improved RTW.
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Dr Mary Wyatt | To treat the patient we need to know the patient
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Gabrielle Lis | In which we ask: Who would benefit from CBT? How can you broach the subject of therapy in the workplace? How long does CBT take?
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Gabrielle Lis | In which we - and injured worker Ms W - learn that when you change your behavior, you also change your thoughts, beliefs, feelings...and rehab prospects.
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Gabrielle Lis | In which we - and injured worker Ms W - learn that 'C' is for 'Cognitive,' and that thoughts aren't facts.
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SuperDoc | If we can train good superheros (take yours truly for one fine example) then surely we can train good supervisors - and guess what? Your employees' happiness depends on it.
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Dr Mary Wyatt | There's more than meets the eye when it comes to patients at risk of poor return to work results.
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Dr Mary Wyatt | RTW coordinators make a huge difference, but how do we find, develop and promote the right people for the job.
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Mary Harris and Kevin Jones | Heart disease and stroke results in $41.7 billion in lost productivity
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Gabrielle Lis | Believe it or not, when conflict arises in RTW there ARE ways of dealing with it...
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SuperDoc | 'Self-efficacy' is more than just an odd-sounding word. Superdoc explains who needs self-efficacy skills - and why it's in your interest to help develop them.
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Dr Mary Wyatt | Ever wondered why some musculoskeletal injuries don't resolve as quickly as they should?
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SuperDoc | Assisting difficult RTW is even harder when the treating practitioner doesn't have all the facts.
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Dr Mary Wyatt | Is it 'compensation' or 'rehabilitation'?
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Robert Hughes | Wellness programs are being considered as a central strategy in US health care policy.
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Dr Mary Wyatt | The principles underlying successful RTW are universal, but we think their application differs depending on the part you play.
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Bronnie Thompson | What does it mean and how to make the most of it.
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Robert Hughes | Is freedom a responsibility of others?
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Gabrielle Lis | Returning to work is even harder if the work itself feels meaningless. What makes a job meaningful?
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Anna Kelsey-Sugg | The what, where and why of motivation, distilled to bullet points.
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Anna Kelsey-Sugg | There is a way of minimizing the adverse effects trauma workers are exposed to - start by acknowledging "vicarious trauma".
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Anna Kelsey-Sugg | When it comes to back pain, we don't have the right vocabulary - and we need it. The right words can inform the correct way of thinking.
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Bronnie Thompson | Just over two years ago I was in a hurry. I'd been to a store and was returning home to entertain some visitors. Clutching my purchases in one hand, I opened the car door.....
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Robert Hughes | UK research evidence shows that risk of death for workless people is 20% higher.
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Gabrielle Lis | The financial crisis provides employers the opportunity to support employees to better health - but there are pitfalls to avoid.
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Robert Hughes | Who suffers when people dupe the system?
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Gabrielle Lis | During recession, claim numbers go down, but claim duration goes up. What happens to costs?
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Gabrielle Lis | Unless plant closures and mass lay-offs are planned, workers' comp claims decline during recessions.
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Dr Mary Wyatt | How do doctors assess a person's ability to work?
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Dr Mary Wyatt | How patients communicate has an important influence on the treatment they receive.
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Dr Mary Wyatt | Is it useful to know the pathology of a wrinkle?
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Dr Mary Wyatt | Let's put some evidence behind sick leave certificates
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SuperDoc | Job turnover in claims staff is high; if staff felt they could make a positive difference, they'd be more likely to hang around.
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Bronnie Thompson | Two cases demonstrate the importance of thinking about the big picture in return to work
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SuperDoc | Financial rewards as perverse incentives.
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SuperDoc | An investigation won't tell us what we usually need to know about back pain - so why do we often jump so quickly into it?
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Robert Hughes | Workplace culture glue and review
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SuperDoc | A lot has ch-ch-changed recently, but our Superhero Superdoc is back on back pain and the importance of not being afraid of it.
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SuperDoc | Fear and back pain make a destructive combination - our local superhero talks about why.
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Robert Hughes | Trust and control
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SuperDoc | A look at the issues surrounding work causation ... and the funny questions people ask superheros.
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SuperDoc | Partnerships between doctors and the workplace are worth working on.
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SuperDoc | How to Communicate with Doctors (or Yacking with Quacks)
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SuperDoc | Super Doc gives a super-spiel about the importance of listening - and saying no
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SuperDoc | On medical certificates, flexibility and common sense
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SuperDoc | Better than a blog - it's a monologue! Not the Great Decider, who is this guy?
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Robert Hughes | Who does the hard work, and why they should be supported.
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Robert Hughes | The what and why of Return To Work Matters
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