Exploring differences in the representations held by clinicians and those held by workers suffering from musculoskeletal disorders, during the occupational rehabilitation process : Explorer les types d'écart de représentations entre le clinicien et le travailleur souffrant d'un trouble musculo-squelettique durant le processus de réadaptation au travail

In the therapeutic context, the existence of differences in representations would appear to be associated with a poor prognosis and to confirm the importance of the clinician understanding the worker’s representations and of defining goals and strategies with the worker’s input. [...] When the difference existed at the level of the clinical judgment, the clinician was able to discuss it directly with the worker, who was in turn able to change his representations and move closer to the principles presented during the intervention. [...] As seen in Figure 1, Scenario A depicts a situation in which the first difference exists between the professional’s clinical judgment and the worker’s understanding of his problem, and the second, between the worker’s understanding of his problem and the clinician’s interpretation of the worker’s understanding. [...] The two specific objectives were as follows: 1) To describe the difference between the clinician’s judgment, the worker’s representations and the managing clinician’s interpretation of these representations; 2) To describe the presence of changes in the clinician’s interpretation of the representations held by the worker whom he is managing during the rehabilitation program. [...] The strategies proposed by the clinician are designed to help the worker progress in terms of his handling of the problem and to change his representation of the problem.