Can a rehab patient's motivation be improved? What about that person's employer; can their motivation be improved at the same time?

These are the questions that Swedish Guvnor Gard and Agneta Larsson posed in their Journal of Occupational Medicine essay titled 'Focus in Motivation in the Work Rehabilitation Planning Process: A Qualitative Study from the Employer's Perspective'.

Now in the past we've sung Denmark's praises here at RTW Matters for its secure and flexible workplace culture. This time it's a Swedish tune we sing. The country that often leads the world in terms of social policy has a Working Environment Act, passed in 1991, which includes the following clause: “An employer shall ensure that the workplace...has appropriately organised work adjustment and rehabilitation activities in order to fulfil the requirements of this Act.”

Swedish employers are responsible for organised rehabilitation including developing plans and intervention to assist return to work

The following is a list taken based Gard and Larsson's study of Swedish employers that show that an employer, through this proactive approach, can help their worker to be more motivated during rehabilitation.

Results are better when everybody works for the same result.

The employers interviewed in the study were experienced, they had employees taking part in vocational rehabilitation. Their insights into actions that lead to better rehabilitation through more motivated employees are insightful and interesting. Some of these actions include:

• Personal contact between employers and employees; actions like meeting up and talking are valuable
• Starting the rehabilitation process as early as possible, and also for the employer to be active and involved in the process. “Employers perceived that when the interaction and communication with the client is working fine this is a satisfying and motivating factor for the employer in his/her efforts.”
• Helping employees to formulate rehabilitation goals – a highly motivating factor in rehabilitation. The study showed the importance, however, of maintaining flexibility with these goals, allowing them to change to suit the employer's rate of recovery.
• Empower employees to be responsible and participate in decision-making in their own professional development
• The establishment and fostering of mutual trust between employer and employee. Communication is again a crucial factor in the creation of trust.

Motivation, wrote Gard and Larsson, can be influenced by three things: “individual factors, work-related factors and factors in the rehabilitation process.” Their study showed that the Swedish employers interviewed considered motivation to be of significant importance in the process. Facilitating this motivation requires an understanding of each of these three factors. They saw their own role in encouraging the motivation of their employees as being hands-on, and based on two-way communication, openness and trust.