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Economic Perspectives on Return to Work Interventions

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Handbook of Return to Work

Part of the book series: Handbooks in Health, Work, and Disability ((SHHDW,volume 1))

Abstract

Organizations regularly face challenging resource allocation decisions in their effort to get the most out of the resources they have available for their operations. At a broader, societal level, consideration of the resource implications of alternatives is equally as critical, since not all possibilities can be supported. This is as true in the realm of occupational health and safety and return to work as it is for other areas of decision-making. In this chapter, we focus on economic considerations—both methods and evidence—related to disability management interventions and return to work. We describe the extent of the burden of work disability and then turn to economic evaluations of interventions to reduce the burden. We present an overview of methods and issues in the economic evaluation of return to work interventions, focusing on disability management with workplace involvement, and summarize evidence on the financial merits of such interventions. We end with a discussion and summary of the role of economics in intervention evaluation and investment decision-making, with a focus on disability management and return to work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Work & Health, 481 University Ave, Suite 800, Toronto, ON, Canada, M5G 2E9

    Emile Tompa

  2. VU University Medical Centre, Department of Public and Occupational Health, EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, Van der Boechorststraat 7, Amsterdam, 1081 BT, The Netherlands

    Allard van der Beek

  3. Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, VU University Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1105, Amsterdam, 1081 HV, The Netherlands

    Maurits van Tulder

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  1. Emile Tompa
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  2. Allard van der Beek
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  3. Maurits van Tulder
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Correspondence to Emile Tompa .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. and Special Education, Dept. Edu. and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education, VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Canada

    Izabela Z. Schultz

  2. Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas, USA

    Robert J. Gatchel

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Tompa, E., van der Beek, A., van Tulder, M. (2016). Economic Perspectives on Return to Work Interventions. In: Schultz, I., Gatchel, R. (eds) Handbook of Return to Work. Handbooks in Health, Work, and Disability, vol 1. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-7627-7_22

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