Psychological
Injury and the
Role of
Emotional
Resilience
Kristin Tinker
National Rehabilitation Manager
AGENDA
1. What is emotional resilience?
2. Understanding psychological injury
•
•
Statistics & prevalence
Causes of psychological injury
3. Claims Management implications
•
•
•
Best practice injury management of psychological injury claims
Early v Tail interventions
Why psychological injury claims get stuck
4. Summary
PART 1
What is emotional
resilience?
THEORY OF EMOTIONAL RESILIENCE
Think of emotional well-being as being on a continuum…
-5
0
+5
Problem solving
skills
Self Worth
Social
Competence
Optimism
Good support
network
Planning Skills
Openness to
change
Task vs emotion
centred
Internal locus of
control
Purposefulness
Sense of
humour
Looks after
themselves
PART 2
Understanding
Psychological Injury
UNDERSTANDING PSYCHOLOGICAL INJURY
IN NORTHERN TERRITORY
Claim Trends 2008 – 2012
• Increasing steadily
• Increased incidence in workers up to the age of 54 years old
• Representation:
- Government: 12-15% of claims (>35% claims cost)
- Private: 3-5% of claims (>10% total claims cost)
• Average cost per psychological injury claim:
- $44,242 (government)
- $38,740 (private)
• Total cost of mental stress claims:
- $2,123,625 (government)
- $3,021,691 (private)
Adapted from Trends in Northern Territory Workers’ Compensation Claims, Sept 2013
PSYCHOLOGICAL INJURY RESEARCH
5%
5%
11%
79%
Adjustment Disorder
PTSD
Major Depressive Episode
Panic Disorder/Phobia
Source: Centre for Corporate Health, Analysis of Claims 1999-2009
WHAT CAUSES PSYCH CLAIMS?
THE IMPACT OF OPERATIONAL STRESSORS
Exposure to
operational
stressors
Emotional
response /
psychological
injury
Workers’
Compensation
Claim
The correlation between exposure to specific operational stressors and
(a) individual employee stress response and
(b) submission of workers compensation claims
is negligible.
Source: Peter Cotton (2011)
KEY DRIVERS FOR PSYCH CLAIMS
Key predictors for why people put in claims:
1.
Individual morale
2.
Supportive leadership
3.
Work team climate
4.
Individual psychological susceptibility
Addressing these is the first steps in preventing psychological claims in the
workplace
Narcissistic
Borderline
Paranoid
Poor Coping Skills
Obsessive
Perfectionistic
Dependent
Depression/Anxiety
Aggressive
Hyper-sensitivity
PERSONALITY FACTORS
SOURCE: CENTRE FOR CORPORATE HEALTH, ANALYSIS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL INJURY CLAIMS 1999-2009
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
PART 3.
Implications for Claims
Management
BEST PRACTICE INJURY MANAGEMENT
OF PSYCH INJURY CLAIMS
… 3 essential ingredients
RTW
Rehab
Treatment
Assessment
THE RESILIENCE BOX™
…WHAT’S IN THE BOX?
The program consists of practical and effective
strategies to build resilience and enhance personal
wellbeing
BEST PRACTICE REHABILITATION
Is…
-
Consultative
Holistic
Biopsychosocial
Tailored (ie: physical v psychological strategies)
Conducted by industry specialists
Positive!
Is not…
-
Adversarial
Isolated
Standardised
Authoritative
IN SUMMARY
• The majority of people recover from a psychological injury
• Prevention strategies aimed at improving emotional resilience can
reduce claim numbers
• All psychological injury claims need best practice:
•
•
•
•
Assessment
Treatment
Psychological Rehabilitation
Intense Injury Management
• Emotional resilience can be taught, and staff can learn new skills to
improve their emotional resilience, and prevent their psychological
susceptibility to developing mental illness
FURTHER INFORMATION
www.resilia.com.au
Please contact:
Kristin Tinker
National Rehabilitation Manager
Ph. 1300 4 RESILIA (1300 47 37 45)
ktinker@resilia.com.au