TY - JOUR
AU - L. Kluit
AU - A. de Wind
AU - A. Beumer
AU - C. A. M. van Bennekom
AU - Agem de Boer
A1 - 
AB - BACKGROUND: Awareness among medical specialists about patient work concerns is important because work and health are linked. In Clinical Work-Integrating Care (CWIC), specialists adopt the notion that work can affect health, and medical actions can affect work participation, and they act according to that notion. This study aims to assess the extent to which specialists provide CWIC and to obtain perceptions of medical specialists about their professional role-responsibility in providing CWIC. METHODS: This cross-sectional mixed-methods study involved quantitative questionnaires and qualitative interviews with medical specialists. The self-developed 18-item questionnaire evaluated the extent and type of CWIC provision (rating scale 0-4; Never = 0 to Always = 4) and how role-responsibility was perceived, while the interviews offered more in-depth insights. Descriptive statistics for the questionnaire data and thematic analyses for the interview data were applied. RESULTS: We attained 160 questionnaires (female 64%, 93% non-surgical specialists) and 11 interviews (female 64%, 91% non-surgical specialists). Specialists often asked patients about work (mean score 3.1), sometimes about work history (mean score 2.2) and the conversation about work was usually started by the specialist (mean score 2.9). Conversations about work often concerned the influence of work on disease (2.4) and the influence of disease (2.5) or treatment (2.1) on work ability, but rarely about the legal aspects related to sick leave (1.5). The specialists' perceived role-responsibility was summarized in three themes: 1) understanding that work and health (problems) are linked including asking patients about work and investigating work factors, 2) supporting work participation within a specialist's expertise including focus on patients' health and prevention of sick leave, and 3) possibilities and limitations of the healthcare system including work participation as treatment goal and cooperation with occupational health care. CONCLUSIONS: Medical specialists in our survey usually asked about patients' work, but they often did not take a work history. Limitations within the healthcare system hinder comprehensive work-integrating support by specialists, defining the boundaries of CWIC to within hospital care.
AD - Amsterdam UMC Location AMC, University of Amsterdam, Department of Public and Occupational Health, Meibergdreef 9, 1105 AZ, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. l.kluit@amsterdamumc.nl.; Amsterdam Public Health research institute, Societal Participation and Health, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. l.kluit@amsterdamumc.nl.; Amsterdam UMC Location AMC, University of Amsterdam, Department of Public and Occupational Health, Meibergdreef 9, 1105 AZ, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. a.dewind@amsterdamumc.nl.; Amsterdam Public Health research institute, Societal Participation and Health, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. a.dewind@amsterdamumc.nl.; Amsterdam UMC Location AMC, University of Amsterdam, Department of Public and Occupational Health, Meibergdreef 9, 1105 AZ, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.; Amphia Hospital, Upper Limb Unit Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Breda, the Netherlands.; Heliomare Rehabilitation Centre, Research and Development, Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands.; Amsterdam Public Health research institute, Societal Participation and Health, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.; Cancer Center Amsterdam, Cancer Treatment and Quality of Life, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
AN - 40148893
BT - BMC Health Serv Res
C5 - Education & Workforce
CP - 1
DA - Mar 27
DO - 10.1186/s12913-024-12137-y
DP - NLM
ET - 20250327
IS - 1
JF - BMC Health Serv Res
LA - eng
N2 - BACKGROUND: Awareness among medical specialists about patient work concerns is important because work and health are linked. In Clinical Work-Integrating Care (CWIC), specialists adopt the notion that work can affect health, and medical actions can affect work participation, and they act according to that notion. This study aims to assess the extent to which specialists provide CWIC and to obtain perceptions of medical specialists about their professional role-responsibility in providing CWIC. METHODS: This cross-sectional mixed-methods study involved quantitative questionnaires and qualitative interviews with medical specialists. The self-developed 18-item questionnaire evaluated the extent and type of CWIC provision (rating scale 0-4; Never = 0 to Always = 4) and how role-responsibility was perceived, while the interviews offered more in-depth insights. Descriptive statistics for the questionnaire data and thematic analyses for the interview data were applied. RESULTS: We attained 160 questionnaires (female 64%, 93% non-surgical specialists) and 11 interviews (female 64%, 91% non-surgical specialists). Specialists often asked patients about work (mean score 3.1), sometimes about work history (mean score 2.2) and the conversation about work was usually started by the specialist (mean score 2.9). Conversations about work often concerned the influence of work on disease (2.4) and the influence of disease (2.5) or treatment (2.1) on work ability, but rarely about the legal aspects related to sick leave (1.5). The specialists' perceived role-responsibility was summarized in three themes: 1) understanding that work and health (problems) are linked including asking patients about work and investigating work factors, 2) supporting work participation within a specialist's expertise including focus on patients' health and prevention of sick leave, and 3) possibilities and limitations of the healthcare system including work participation as treatment goal and cooperation with occupational health care. CONCLUSIONS: Medical specialists in our survey usually asked about patients' work, but they often did not take a work history. Limitations within the healthcare system hinder comprehensive work-integrating support by specialists, defining the boundaries of CWIC to within hospital care.
PY - 2025
SN - 1472-6963
SP - 448
ST - The extent to which medical specialists provide Clinical Work-Integrating Care (CWIC) and their perceived role-responsibility: a mixed-methods study
T1 - The extent to which medical specialists provide Clinical Work-Integrating Care (CWIC) and their perceived role-responsibility: a mixed-methods study
T2 - BMC Health Serv Res
TI - The extent to which medical specialists provide Clinical Work-Integrating Care (CWIC) and their perceived role-responsibility: a mixed-methods study
U1 - Education & Workforce
U3 - 10.1186/s12913-024-12137-y
VL - 25
VO - 1472-6963
Y1 - 2025
ER -