Workers with chronic pain: recovery and reintegration

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of workers who were disabled from work for a minimum of 6 months by chronic musculoskeletal pain and then eventually returned to full-time employment. Through open-ended, semistructured interviews, a heterogeneous group of 9 employed workers articulated rich and varied descriptions of their unique experiences. A qualitative data analysis revealed the emergence of themes and subthemes that created a picture of a common experience involving perceived obstacles in dealing with the healthcare system, a tendency to seek alternative and complementary medical treatments, a need to involve themselves in their recoveries, widespread impacts on their personal lives, and multiple issues in reintegrating to the workplace. The results of the study indicate a need for more research that focuses not only on the disabled worker but also on the role of the healthcare system in facilitating recovery and reintegration to the workplace.