Analyzing British Columbia Workers Compensation Occupational Therapy Usage With Public Safety Personnel

Public safety personnel (PSP) have higher rates of work-related psychological injuries compared to the general public. Occupational therapists frequently provide rehabilitation and return to work (RTW) services for PSP. In order to understand the usage of occupational therapy (OT) treatment with psychologically injured PSP from British Columbia, Canada, a descriptive quantitative approach was used to explore summary data provided by WorkSafeBC (WSBC) for psychologically injured PSP who had an accepted mental disorder injury claim between 2019 and 2023, comparing those who received community OT treatment and those who did not. The data revealed that PSP with greater injury severity and longer lengths of time away from work more frequently received OT treatment as part of their WSBC mental disorder injury claim; it is possible that this higher degree of claim complexity influenced their RTW outcomes. Workers' compensation organizations should review their RTW processes to ensure prompt access to relevant treatment and supports, including occupational therapy.