Return to work in the perspective of occupational therapists’: facilitators and barriers.

Abstract

This study aims to understand the perceptions of occupational therapists in relation to facilitators and barriers to return to work. It is based on a qualitative approach. Five
occupational therapists who work at the National Institute of Social Security in the metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte have participated. Data were collected through an online questionnaire. The responses were analyzed from the content analysis, from which three thematic categories emerged: Insured persons: personal and inter-relational aspects; Enterprises and Social Security: organizational factors and human resources; and Public Policies: training and hiring workers. The results showed between the facilitators for the return to work the workers’ motivation, qualification, integration between Social Security and the companies, and the policies that support training. As barriers, the restricted professional experiences, the disarticulation between the Social Security areas, the lack of interest of
companies to adapt work situations, and the discontinuity of resources for professional rehabilitation were revealed. The return to work is a multifactorial process and requires the
performance of different social actors in the transformation of work to empower facilitators and change barriers.