A randomized study of the effect of a job video on occupational health providers’ understanding of injured workers’ job tasks and return to work practices

Abstract

Purpose This study assessed how a job video together with a written job description, compared to a job description alone, affects occupational health providers’ knowledge about the job of injury and return to work (RTW) practices. Methods Nineteen occupational health providers were randomized to review a clinical case along with a job description (usual practice group) or along with a job description and a job video (intervention group). Differences in pre-post knowledge and RTW practices were assessed using the sign test. The Cochran- Armitage exact test was used to assess differences in pre-post score differences between groups. Results Ten occupational health providers were randomly assigned to the intervention group, and nine to the usual practice group. Providers demonstrated increased confidence in determining injury causation (p = 0.016) and explaining mechanism of injury to the patient (p = 0.008) after reviewing the clinical case with a job video. However, there was no statistically significant difference in pre-post score differences between groups. Participants reported that job videos may be useful in the clinical setting to enhance provider understanding of work tasks, establish patient rapport, and increase worker motivation to RTW. Conclusions This study demonstrated the feasibility of evaluating job videos in a clinical occupational health setting. Although job videos may be a useful addition to clinical practice, further work is needed to determine how job videos might best be incorporated into the clinical workflow in order to improve patient outcomes. Larger studies are also needed to further examine differences in outcomes between providers that integrate job videos into their practice compared to those who do not.