A hospital-based return-to-work programme in Singapore

Return to Work (RTW) programmes have become imperative in manpower scarce countries. This paper describes a RTW programme in a Singapore tertiary hospital, reports patient outcomes and discusses the practicality and effectiveness of the programme. Seventy-three workers participated in the programme over a two-year period. A statistically significant increase in work ability and self-perceived overall health status from first contact with worker (baseline) to discharge was observed. Continued programme participation till first RTW was associated with higher work ability and self-perceived overall health status at baseline. The RTW Coordinator-anchored multi-disciplinary model which provided holistic support to the worker and addressed stakeholder interests were central to the programme's success. Greater awareness of RTW programme benefits will improve sustained participation. Our RTW programme features, implementation experiences and participant reported effectiveness may inform the development of improved return to work models.

Automated summary

This paper describes a Return to Work (RTW) programme in a Singapore tertiary hospital, reports patient outcomes and discusses the practicality and effectiveness of the programme. Seventy-three workers participated in the programme over a two-year period. The programme showed statistically significant increase in work ability and self-perceived overall health status, and the RTW Coordinator-anchored multi-disciplinary model played a central role in the programme's success.