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. 2024 Sep;34(3):481-521.
doi: 10.1007/s10926-023-10143-1. Epub 2023 Nov 15.

Clinical Work-Integrating Care in Current Practice: A Scoping Review

Lana Kluit  1   2 , Coen A M van Bennekom  3   4 , Annechien Beumer  3   5 , Maayke A Sluman  6 , Angela G E M de Boer  3   7   8 , Astrid de Wind  3   7
Affiliations

Clinical Work-Integrating Care in Current Practice: A Scoping Review

Lana Kluit et al. J Occup Rehabil. 2024 Sep.

Abstract

Purpose: Clinical work-integrating care (CWIC) refers to paying attention to work participation in a clinical setting. Working patients may benefit from CWIC. The purpose of this study is to explore the extent and nature to which medical specialists provide CWIC and what policies and guidelines oblige or recommend specialists to do.

Methods: A scoping review was conducted. The databases MEDLINE, EMBASE, Psychinfo, CINAHL, and Web of Science were searched for studies on the extent and nature of CWIC and supplemented by gray literature on policies and guidelines. Six main categories were defined a priori. Applying a meta-aggregative approach, subcategories were subsequently defined using qualitative data. Next, quantitative findings were integrated into these subcategories. A separate narrative of policies and guidelines using the same main categories was constructed.

Results: In total, 70 studies and 55 gray literature documents were included. The main findings per category were as follows: (1) collecting data on the occupation of patients varied widely; (2) most specialists did not routinely discuss work, but recent studies showed an increasing tendency to do so, which corresponds to recent policies and guidelines; (3) work-related advice ranged from general advice to patient-physician collaboration about work-related decisions; (4) CWIC was driven by legislation in many countries; (5) specialists sometimes collaborated in multidisciplinary teams to provide CWIC; and (6) medical guidelines regarding CWIC were generally not available.

Conclusion: Medical specialists provide a wide variety of CWIC ranging from assessing a patient's occupation to extensive collaboration with patients and other professionals to support work participation. Lack of medical guidelines could explain the variety of these practices.

Keywords: Clinical decision-making; Occupational health; Physician–patient relations; Return to work; Systematic review.

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Conflict of interest statement

Lana Kluit, Coen AM van Bennekom, Annechien Beumer, Maayke L Sluman, Angela GEM de Boer, and Astrid de Wind all declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Selection process visualized with the PRISMA-ScR flow diagram
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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