GRANTS. Forte has recently decided to provide support for research projects that examine how people who are on disability due to pain or mental conditions can return to the labor force. Of the six projects that Forte decided to support, four of the main applicants are employed at Sahlgrenska Academy and will conduct the research with Region Västra Götaland as the grant manager.
Mental illness and painful conditions are the most common causes of long-term disability in Sweden. The research that Forte is supporting will provide greater knowledge of treatment and rehabilitation options for people on disability as a result of these types of difficulties.
One of the four main applicants who will receive support for their application at Forte is Andreas Fors, who is a research assistant at the Department for Health and Care Services, Center for Person-Centered Care.
(GPCC). His project was granted nearly SEK 5 million over the next three years. The project involves a number of other researchers within various departments at Sahlgrenska Academy, and will be carried out in conjunction with Region Västra Götaland and the Institute for Stress Medicine.
“The grant means that we are breaking new ground and have the opportunity to fully implement person-centered care in a digital format. Carrying out the entire project in collaboration with primary care services is also new, since most of our previous studies within GPCC were carried out at inpatient facilities, and research within the primary care system is generally considered to be inadequate,” says Andreas Fors.
A new platform for communication
The project involves about 100 people who are on disability for stress burnout or chronic fatigue syndrome being given access to a new web-based platform, where they can self-report their symptoms as well as their daily condition and communicate with whoever they wish about their health – in this case, communicating with the employer is particularly important. Another 100 people with stress burnout or chronic fatigue syndrome who receive conventional treatment from the healthcare system and employers are also included in the study as a control group.
“The idea is that the digital platform should be inspiring and attractive to use. It should facilitate more informal contact with both healthcare staff and employers, increase self-confidence in the people who use it, and allow for communication with many actors,” says Andreas Fors.
Four projects in western Sweden
The research that Forte is now supporting should increase knowledge of which strategies promote self-confidence, and which reduce the number of persons being on disability and the risk of relapse among people with stress burnout or chronic fatigue syndrome.
“Previous research indicates that efforts for getting people on disability back into the labor force need to include changes in the workplace and not just changes in terms of healthcare. However, there are knowledge gaps in terms of which actions are most effective and when they should be implemented. We expect that these projects will provide important pieces to the puzzle in terms of the filling in these knowledge gaps,” says Stella Jacobson, research secretary at Forte.
The grant was specially designed to support research projects that improve the implementation and usefulness of research results in the practical work of treatment and rehabilitation. The projects will be conducted in partnership with local county councils and employers, workplaces or the Swedish Public Employment Service.
These researchers in western Sweden received project support from Forte:
Main applicant: Cecilia Björkelund, SEK 5,686,000
Senior Professor, Department of Public Health and Community Medicine at the Institute of Medicine
Project title: Collaboration around patients with depression, anxiety and stress burnout: coordinators at healthcare centers and conversations in the workplace – CO-WORK-CARE, a cluster-randomized study. (Samverkan kring patienter med depression, ångest och stressreaktion: samordnare på vårdcentralen och samtal på arbetsplatsen – CO-WORK-CARE – en kluster-randomiserad studie)
Main applicant: Elisabeth Björk Brämberg, SEK 4,626,000
Senior Lecturer, Institute of Health and Care Sciences
Project title: Problem-solving conversations in primary care to help people with mental illness return to work – a cluster-randomized study. (Problemlösningsbaserade samtal inom primärvården för att främja återgång i arbete bland personer med psykisk ohälsa – en klusterrandomiserad studie)
Main applicant: Andreas Fors, SEK 4,944,000
Research assistant, Institute of Health and Care Sciences
Project title: Person-centered eHealth for treatment and rehabilitation of stress burnout and chronic fatigue syndrome – a randomized, controlled study in primary care. (Personcentrerad e-Hälsa för behandling och rehabilitering av stressreaktioner och utmattningssyndrom – en randomiserad kontrollerad studie i primärvården)
Main applicant: Gunnel Hensing, SEK 3,453,000
Professor, Department of Public Health and Community Medicine at the Institute of Medicine
Project title: Early and systematic communication with physicians, patients and employers for quick re-entry into the labor force. (Tidig och systematisk kommunikation mellan läkare, patient och arbetsgivare för snabbare återgång i arbete.) CapNote – a randomized, controlled study of primary care.
You can find the entire list here: http://forte.se/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/rehabilitering-vid-sjukskrivning-2017-02-24.pdf
