Introduction to a Worker Centric Model

On July 29, I provided you with an introduction to the topic of “work disability” as my first contribution to the “Expert’s View”.  I promised future discussions on work disability, how to prevent it, and how to achieve vocational recovery through a worker centric approach.  That first contribution can be read here.

If you’re an influencer or leader within your jurisdiction, your company, or an insurer, and have taken the time to learn that work disability is a condition prevalent in all workers’ compensation systems, then you should be asking about best practices to address it.  The spoiler alert is that this doesn’t have to be complicated stuff.  Many of us can reduce or contribute to the progression of work disability as we engage with injured workers.

But let’s start with the worker centric model: this approach is about understanding and applying the skills and interventions proven to shift human behavior; to get injured workers and employers, and often medical providers, to act differently, to get ‘unstuck’ in the workers’ compensation system.  Granted, causing these shifts can be challenging as it requires soft skills, patience, and small steps forward that lead to goal attainment.  But aren’t such challenges what make workers’ comp interesting?

As a foundation for the worker centric approach, many of you have likely heard of or are actively implementing or applying a claims advocacy or customer service initiative within your organization that’s focused on developing relationships and trust with injured workers.  Claims advocacy/customer service are great building blocks for the worker centric model to improve return-to-work outcomes and vocational recovery.  But customer service doesn’t necessarily change ultimate return-to-work outcomes, although workers and employers may feel better about their journey through the claim process.  A worker centric approach goes beyond being nice.  It requires active listening, building rapport with the worker to identify their barriers, needs, and goals, and following through with commitments.  And still more.

Despite available literature supporting the concept, our team found no definition for “worker centric”.  So we developed our own to help our staff and service providers, particularly vocational rehabilitation counselors, align with the culture change we’ve achieved in the Washington state fund over the past several years.  For us, a worker centric approach means we: 

• Put the worker in the lead role and make it easy for them to choose to return to work
• Are engaging and activating workers based on what they think needs to happen through goal planning and attainment to enable them to successfully return to work or progress through the process
• Develop relationships and trust with workers to help them identify their motivations, concerns, and risks with returning to work

If you remember only one thing from this article, keep in mind the first bullet: that worker centric means putting the worker in the lead role.  This doesn’t mean giving them everything they ask for, but it means ensuring return to work happens “with” them, not “to” them.  It means ensuring they retain some control over their life and livelihood.

Watch for more in the future as we dive more deeply into “worker centric” and the elements behind work disability prevention….

By Vickie Kennedy

Vickie Kennedy is the Assistant Director for Insurance Services at Washington State's Department of Labor and Industries, a role she's held since April, 2013. She currently sits on the Board of Directors for the International Association of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions (IAIABC) and chairs the IAIABC's Work Disability Prevention and Return to Work Committee. In 2020, Vickie joined other national workers' compensation experts on the Advisory Council for the Workers' Compensation Benchmarking Study.

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