When an employee is injured on the job, it is in everyone’s best interest to mobilize for a fast and complete recovery. However, that outcome may be unintentionally sabotaged by an unlikely development: lack of patient engagement and trust.
In fact, a Workers Compensation Research Institute study showed employees who feared they would be fired due to workplace injuries experienced a four-week increase in duration of disability. Employees who feel cut off from normal work roles, activities and relationships due to injury may withdraw, feel helpless and become passive in their recovery. This can lead to an unhealthy regression of noncompliance, medication dependency, resentment toward the employer, potential litigation and, potentially, long-term disability.
