Evaluation of Return to Work Rehabilitation

Long-term sick-listing from work has considerable impact on social function, on the families of the sick-listed persons, the companies they work for, and society as a whole. Hence, the need for documented effective vocational rehabilitation programs is pressing. Vocational rehabilitation services described in the scientific literature have been specific to one single or a specific group of medical conditions (e.g.low back pain). In contrast, most people on sick leave have several health complaints, and many of the factors influencing sick leave are shared regardless of disorder (e.g. social surroundings, workplace environment), calling for rehabilitation programs that can be employed for both musculoskeletal-, unspecific- and common mental disorders. Aim of this study is to investigate whether a group based rehabilitation program for musculoskeletal, mental or unspecific complaints can facilitate return-to-work (RTW), thereby testing two multicomponent return-to-work RTW rehabilitation programs.