Scientific research WorkCare

What is WorkCare?

WorkCare is a research project and is an abbreviation for: Work-ORiented networK Care across domAins: a Realist Evaluation

WorkCare is a study that looks at how healthcare professionals work together to help people with a chronic condition to work and participate in society. This is done at Radboudumc. The goal is to investigate how care that focuses on work can help improve the lives of people with a chronic condition.

Summary of the project

Chronic illnesses have a large influence on how people can participate in society and on their quality of life. Traditional care often does not focus enough on work and participation in society. This means that care, work and social support do not work well together. Patients need help that starts from the moment of diagnosis and that looks at their personal situation and goals.

This study focuses on a new type of care that works to improve work and the lives of patients. The first results are positive. The goal of the study is to understand what makes this model work well. The research questions are about how we can improve the care model and how we can better help patients to actively participate in society.

The research uses a special way of looking, called Realist Evaluation. This looks at how care works in different situations and how it contributes to the participation in society and the quality of life of people with a chronic condition.

The research has different phases. In the first phase, existing information is analysed to understand how care works. In the second phase, conversations are held with patients, care providers and other stakeholders, to learn more about how care works in practice.

We hope to gain more knowledge about what care delivers and which factors are important in this. This will help to improve care for different groups of patients.

Goal of the project

The goal of this project is to understand how care that focuses on work can help people with a chronic condition to better participate in society and improve their quality of life.

Our research

This research uses a research method called Realist Evaluation. This method of research not only helps to understand whether care works, but also how and why and for whom it works. This is important to further improve care.

The study looks at three groups of patients with different diseases:

1. People with a disease that gets worse over time, such as Parkinson's disease.
2. People with diseases that flare up occasionally, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
3. People who have a disease that starts off severely, such as cancer or a stroke, and that can also have long-term consequences.

We expect that people in these groups participate differently in society. For people with a disease that gets worse, participation often decreases. This is not always the case for the other two groups. The factors that influence care will also differ per group. In the case of diseases that flare up, it is important to intervene early to prevent people from dropping out of work. In diseases that start severely, the initial focus is on treating the disease, with a view to maintaining employment in the long term.