Workplace Interventions for Workers with Musculoskeletal Disabilities: A Descriptive Review of Content

Background: Despite the convergence of scientific data to the effect that interventions in the workplace promote a healthy return to work, the interventions carried out in the real work environment appear to be very heterogeneous and ill-defined. Objective: The goal of this review is to identify the different objectives pursued through the workplace interventions carried out in the context of a rehabilitation program, and to describe the activities involved. Methods: A descriptive review of the literature, including various research designs, was carried out. Results: This review reveals great heterogeneity in the content of interventions offered in the workplace to workers with musculoskeletal disabilities. The objectives of workplace interventions may range from gathering information in order to reproduce work demands in a clinical setting, to gradually exposing workers to the demands of the real work environment, or permanently reducing the demands of the work situation. A descriptive analysis of the literature also brings to light the diversity of actions carried out, human resources used, and workplace environments involved, while highlighting the few documented process outcome evaluations that have been done of workplace interventions. Conclusion: It is recommended that in future research in this area, efforts be made to better describe the components of the interventions, to develop process outcomes representing the multidimensional results obtained in the workplace, and to differentiate between temporary and permanent modifications made to the work situation.