Psychological Injury and the Role of Emotional Resilience Kristin Tinker National Rehabilitation Manager

AGENDA 1.What is emotional resilience? 2.Understanding psychological injury Statistics & prevalence Causes of psychological injury 3.Claims Management implications Best practice injury management of psychological injury claims Early v Tail interventions Why psychological injury claims get stuck 4.Summary

PART 1 What is emotional resilience?

THEORY OF EMOTIONAL RESILIENCE Think of emotional well-being as being on a continuum…

Problem solving skills Self Worth Social Competence Optimism Good support network Planning Skills Openness to change Task vs emotion centred Internal locus of control Purposefulness Sense of humour Looks after themselves

PART 2 Understanding Psychological Injury

UNDERSTANDING PSYCHOLOGICAL INJURY IN NORTHERN TERRITORY Claim Trends 2008 – 2012 Increasing steadily Increased incidence in workers up to the age of 54 years old Representation: - Government: 12-15% of claims (>35% claims cost) - Private: 3-5% of claims (>10% total claims cost) Average cost per psychological injury claim: - $44,242 (government) - $38,740 (private) Total cost of mental stress claims: - $2,123,625 (government) - $3,021,691 (private) Adapted from Trends in Northern Territory Workers’ Compensation Claims, Sept 2013

PSYCHOLOGICAL INJURY RESEARCH Source: Centre for Corporate Health, Analysis of Claims

WHAT CAUSES PSYCH CLAIMS?

Exposure to operational stressors Emotional response / psychological injury Workers’ Compensation Claim THE IMPACT OF OPERATIONAL STRESSORS The correlation between exposure to specific operational stressors and (a)individual employee stress response and (b)submission of workers compensation claims is negligible. Source: Peter Cotton (2011)

KEY DRIVERS FOR PSYCH CLAIMS Key predictors for why people put in claims: 1.Individual morale 2.Supportive leadership 3.Work team climate 4.Individual psychological susceptibility Addressing these is the first steps in preventing psychological claims in the workplace

PERSONALITY FACTORS SOURCE: CENTRE FOR CORPORATE HEALTH, ANALYSIS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL INJURY CLAIMS

PART 3. Implications for Claims Management

BEST PRACTICE INJURY MANAGEMENT OF PSYCH INJURY CLAIMS RTW Assessment Treatment Rehab … 3 essential ingredients

THE RESILIENCE BOX™ …WHAT’S IN THE BOX? The program consists of practical and effective strategies to build resilience and enhance personal wellbeing

BEST PRACTICE REHABILITATION Is… -Consultative -Holistic -Biopsychosocial -Tailored (ie: physical v psychological strategies) -Conducted by industry specialists -Positive! Is not… -Adversarial -Isolated -Standardised -Authoritative

IN SUMMARY The majority of people recover from a psychological injury Prevention strategies aimed at improving emotional resilience can reduce claim numbers All psychological injury claims need best practice: Assessment Treatment Psychological Rehabilitation Intense Injury Management Emotional resilience can be taught, and staff can learn new skills to improve their emotional resilience, and prevent their psychological susceptibility to developing mental illness

FURTHER INFORMATION Please contact: Kristin Tinker National Rehabilitation Manager Ph RESILIA ( )