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Work Participation Among Employees with Common Mental Disorders: A Meta-synthesis

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Abstract

Purpose The aim was to aggregate knowledge about the opportunities, challenges and need for support employees with common mental disorders experience in relation to work participation in order to develop recommendations for practice. Methods A meta-synthesis was conducted using a meta-aggregative approach to accurately and reliably present findings that could be used to meet our aim. Qualitative inductive content analysis was used to analyze and synthesize the findings. Results In all, 252 findings were extracted from 16 papers, and six categories were generated and aggregated into two synthesized findings. One synthesized finding indicates that a strong work identity and negative perceptions regarding mental disorders can impede work participation, creating an essential need for a supportive work environment. The other reveals that the diffuse nature of the symptoms of mental disorders causes instability in life and loss of control, but through the use of internal motivation and external support, employees may be able to regain control of their lives. However, external support is hampered by insufficient cooperation and coordination between vocational stakeholders. Conclusions Based on the synthesized findings, we recommended that the employer is involved in the rehabilitation process, and that rehabilitation professionals seek to strengthen the employee’s ability to manage work-related stress. In addition, rehabilitation professionals should provide individualized and active support and ensure meaningful cooperation across the multidisciplinary disciplines involved in the rehabilitation process.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Helene Sognstrup, AU Library Health, Psychiatry, for providing guidance regarding the systematic search strategy.

Funding

This study was funded by the Department of Public Health, Aarhus University and the Jascha Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Health, Section of Nursing, Aarhus University, Bartholins Allé 2, 3., 8000, Aarhus C, Denmark

    Cecilie Nørby Thisted & Merete Bjerrum

  2. Section of Clinical Social Medicine and Rehabilitation, Department of Public Health, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

    Claus Vinther Nielsen

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  1. Cecilie Nørby Thisted
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  2. Claus Vinther Nielsen
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  3. Merete Bjerrum
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Correspondence to Cecilie Nørby Thisted.

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Cecilie Nørby Thisted, Claus Vinther Nielsen and Merete Bjerrum declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

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Thisted, C.N., Nielsen, C.V. & Bjerrum, M. Work Participation Among Employees with Common Mental Disorders: A Meta-synthesis. J Occup Rehabil 28, 452–464 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10926-017-9743-9

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