Recorded presentation

Katherine Helen Lippel, Professor, Joseph Caron, PhD, Marie-Claire Lefebvre, and Chantal Schmidt. Département des sciences juridiques (law), Université du Québec à Montréal, P.O. Box 8888, Succursale Centre Ville, Montreal, QC H3P 3C8, Canada, 514-9873000 ext. 3901, lippel.katherine@uqam.ca

This presentation will describe results of a qualitative research project in which 88 injured workers were interviewed about ways in which the claims process and the workers’ compensation system had therapeutic or anti-therapeutic consequences for the claimants. Men and women from urban and rural settings in the Province of Quebec participated in semi-structured individual interviews and described the ways in which their experience as claimants had positive and negative impacts on their health. Respondents were more forthcoming with regard to factors that had anti-therapeutic effects, including clandestine surveillance by private detectives, multiple and sometimes intrusive medical exams, long delays, lack of social support, mistrust and mistreatment by the employer and in some cases by compensation board staff. Sometimes misunderstanding of the reasons for Compensation board behavior led to feelings of mistrust. In some cases one or several factors were identified as having contributed to the development of mental health problems. Therapeutic factors, including timely access to health care, empathy on the part of compensation board staff, and social support were also explored. An interdisciplinary research team familiar with both qualitative research methods and legal issues governing access to compensation permitted an analysis that allowed a better understanding of ways in which the specific aspects of the medico-legal process in workers’ compensation, and the different social relations that surround the claims process, can affect the health of claimants.

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