Psychological risk factors play a substantial role and present significant obstacles in the delayed recovery of injured workers.
Modifiable risk factors such as fear-avoidance beliefs, catastrophic thinking, perceived disability and perceived injustice all have been found to play a role in the delayed recovery of injured workers.
The workers’ compensation and occupational medicine communities have recognized how to develop an intervention program that specifically targets these modifiable psychological risk factors.
At the forefront of the research and progress in prevention of delayed recovery in Workers’ Compensation cases is Michael Sullivan PHD at the McGill University Center For Research on Pain and Disability.
Dr. Sullivan will be presenting his latest findings on Psychological Risk Factors for Delayed Recovery: Assessment and Intervention at the SEAK National Workers’ Compensation and Occupational Medicine Conference being held July 16-18, 2013 on Cape Cod, MA.
Dr. Sullivan will discuss modifiable risk factors including catastrophic thinking, fear of pain, disability beliefs, and perceived injustice. He will present what is currently known about psychological risk factors for delayed recovery of injured workers and the screening instruments to detect them. Dr. Sullivan will offer practical advice and strategies for reducing pain related psychosocial risk factors.
Dr. Michael Sullivan is currently Professor of Psychology and Medicine at McGill University, and Scientific Director of the Centre for Research on Pain, Disability and Social Integration. He has lectured nationally and internationally on the social and behavioral determinants of pain-related disability. He is known primarily for his research on pain-related psychosocial risk factors, and for the development of community-based approaches to the management of pain-related disability. Dr. Sullivan has published over 130 scientific papers, 20 chapters, and 4 books. He currently holds a Canada Research Chair in Behavioral Health.