Facilitators and Barriers to Collaboration Between General Practice and Sickness Benefits Office in Return to Work...

This scoping review study aimed to provide a comprehensive overview of the literature on collaboration between sickness benefit offices and general practice in return to work (RTW) processes, to map existing research, and to identify facilitators and barriers to successful collaboration.

This review adhered to established scoping review methodologies. A systematic search of peer-reviewed literature was conducted across six databases. Two researchers independently performed screening and data extraction. Facilitators and barriers were thematically analysed, and tentative findings were discussed with a reference group.

The search yielded 8477 unique studies, of which 22 met the inclusion criteria. The findings revealed persistent challenges over the past two decades. Most studies used qualitative methods, and the majority were conducted in a Scandinavian context. Written communication was the predominant collaborative activity reported in the studies. Barriers were more frequently identified than facilitators. Commonly reported barriers to successful collaboration included stereotyping, differing priorities, and an over-reliance on written communication. Facilitators included face-to-face meetings and high-quality written communication. Although facilitators have not been extensively studied, our findings emphasize the interconnection between barriers and facilitators, indicating that facilitators can provide strategies to address these barriers. Furthermore, we observed a lack of consensus in the literature regarding key concepts, such as'collaboration'.

Based on the findings, we recommend that future research focus on achieving conceptual clarity and examining the underlying conditions that influence the potential for collaboration between general practice and sickness benefits offices in RTW processes.