The effects and outcomes of the occupational medicine and rehabilitation program for occupational injury subjects - the preliminary results of the One-Stop to Help All-labors (OSHA) Program.

backgroundOccupational injuries are associated with great work-ability loss and disability for workers. Occupational injuries decrease work-ability and are associated with reduced income, becoming a social and health problem among laborers in Taiwan. This pilot program is to use one-stop services to help occupational injured subjects with physical disability return to work earlier or adjust to new working conditions. The purpose of this study is to describe and evaluate of this services program.

methodsThe study design of this study is a services program description and evaluation. The One-Stop to Help All-labors (OSHA) occupational medicine, case management and vocational reconstruction program was implemented in a medical center at southern Taiwan. The OSHA program includes an occupational medicine clinic, a referral system from physical injury/disease to occupation-related injury/disease, an evaluation of return-to-work readiness, case management, recruiting a vocational reconstruction program, setting a rehabilitation therapy and a follow up post returning to work. We used a single-item 11-point numeric rating scale (NRS) to evaluate the self-perceived work competency. The scored changed more than 2.0 points or greater than 30% will consider as significant. In total, 2,923 subjects received education on their rights related to occupational injuries during hospitalization, 700 subjects visited our occupational medicine out-patient clinic from January 01, 2023 to December 31, 2024. Among them, 401 subjects (330 injury and 71 disease) were recruited by the Collaboration Center of Occupational Medicine for services. There are 236 subjects included in the vocational reconstruction program for consultation, 129 subjects received needs assessment for planning. Among these 129 subjects, 104 subjects were evaluated, 101 subjects received physical work hardening, 24 subjects received psychological work hardening, 21 subjects received job accommodation services and 84 subjects successfully completed the training.

resultsThere are 84 subjects who completed the vocational reconstruction program. At the end of program, the evaluation showed that more than 98.1% of the 84 subjects considered this OSHA program helpful for their return to work. The very satisfaction rate was near 98% for this one-stop program. Among these 84 subjects, the score of self-perceived competence to work was 3.5 points (total 10 points) at the beginning of rehabilitation program, about 7.8 points after completing the work hardening training program, and about 8.6 points 3 months after returning to work.

conclusionResults of this pilot OSHA program showed that the very satisfaction rate is more than 98% for the whole program and their self-perceived work competency increased twice for those with severe occupational injuries and disabilities. This program may be applied to workers with occupational injuries and disabilities; participation of the program may also be promoted among workers with occupational injuries and disabilities as early as possible to reach health equity.