by Izabela Z. Schultz (Editor), Robert J. Gatchel (Editor)
Chronic back and neck pain. Whiplash. Fibromyalgia. Carpal tunnel syndrome. Intractable headaches. Depression. Anxiety and posttraumatic stress. Concussion. More than ever, the term workplace disabilities is synonymous with greater clinical and case management complexity and escalating personal, social, occupational and economic cost. Complex illnesses and injuries that defy a traditional medical management model continue to baffle medical, mental health, rehabilitation, compensation, corporate, and legal professionals despite new advances in diagnosis, prevention, and rehabilitation. The Handbook of Complex Occupational Disability Claims: Early Risk Identification, Intervention and Prevention cuts through the confusion by integrating current theories and findings into a state-of-the-art tool for critical thinking, decision making, and effective practice.
A book that synthesizes so many diverse viewpoints has the potential to influence both policy and practice across disciplines and cut through politicization of these still poorly understood conditions with evidence. The Handbook is important reading for all clinicians, professionals, and members of rehabilitation and disability management teams, across healthcare, occupational and compensation settings.
Format: Paperback
Pages: 584
Edition: 2009
Publisher: Springer
Published: 30 Oct 2008
ISBN 10: 0387893830
ISBN 13: 9780387893839
From the reviews:
There is no doubt that skyrocketing disability claims are having a profound monetary and social impact on Western societies. Leading this explosion are the biopsychosocial disabilities that have proved elusive to standard modeling. Schultz and Gatchel have created a repository of new knowledge about these disabilities, with some practical suggestions on how to integrate this knowledge effectively into clinical, case-management, rehabilitation, corporate, compensation, and return-to-work practices. Albert Einstein is reported to have said that 'the significant problems we face cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them.' This book does an admirable job of presenting a new paradigm to better address this challenging problem.
Brian E.Grottkau, M.D., Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA
Excerpted from The New England Journal of Medicine, August 31, 2006
The Handbook of Complex Occupational Disability Claims... is a timely text that synthesizes a copious amount of research and clinical data pertaining to a number of poorly defined medical conditions into an authoritative tool for use in practice across multiple disciplines. It should be considered mandatory reading for clinicians, rehabilitation specialists, case managers, and other professionals involved in occupational disability cases and claims management.
Bruce A. Barron, Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY
Excerpted from the Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation
An excellent text that is truly worthwhile in its scope, coverage and depth of information. The impetus for this handbook stems from the contention that the United States and other developed Western nations are in the midst of an epidemic. This epidemic is composed of escalating occupational disability and skyrocketing economic costs. ... It admirably summarizes the literature on risk factors and reviews the programs developed ... that intervene with the at-risk group. In terms of scope and level of comprehensiveness, no comparable text exists. (John A. Dooley, PsycCRITIQUES, Vol. 51 (8), 2006)