PERSPECTIVE article

Front. Health Serv.

Sec. Patient Centered Health Systems

Volume 5 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/frhs.2025.1589643

This article is part of the Research TopicChallenges, Opportunities & Outcomes of Patient-Oriented Research in Learning Health SystemsView all articles

Considerations for Engaging in Patient-Oriented Research with Injured Workers

Provisionally accepted
Gagan NagraGagan Nagra1*Pam HungPam Hung1Meaghan Ray PetersMeaghan Ray Peters1Christine GuptillChristine Guptill2Victor EzeugwuVictor Ezeugwu1Lynn CooperLynn Cooper3Beverley McKeenBeverley McKeen3Douglas P GrossDouglas P Gross1
  • 1University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
  • 2University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
  • 3Canadian Injured Workers Alliance, Edmonton, Canada

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Background. Patient-oriented research (POR) incorporates patient-identified priorities and lived experiences into research. Despite their central role in return-to-work (RTW) planning, perspectives and priorities of injured workers are under-represented in Occupational Therapy research. Occupational therapists (OTs) play a key role in RTW research and practice, implementing evidence-based plans and patient-centered care, which positions them well to conduct POR. Purpose. The purpose of this paper is to identify considerations for POR approaches for OTs to engage injured workers in RTW research. Key Issues. The engagement of injured workers as research partners is not well described or understood in POR. This paper outlines practical considerations for conducting POR with injured workers, addressing challenges such as power imbalances, communication barriers, fears of unemployment, and varying levels of vulnerability. OTs can facilitate knowledge transfer and act as knowledge brokers within the RTW process, leveraging their client-centered practice to lead research that optimally engages injured workers. Conclusion. Conducting POR with injured workers can shed light on their interactions with health, insurance, and compensation systems. POR approaches can highlight strengths and limitations of available services and systems and promote improved collaboration and knowledge translation and exchange.

Keywords: Patient Oriented Research, patient engagement, Occupational Therapy, Knowledge Translation (KT), Patient Participation, Workplace, Participatory Action Design (PAR)

Received: 07 Mar 2025; Accepted: 12 May 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Nagra, Hung, Peters, Guptill, Ezeugwu, Cooper, McKeen and Gross. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Gagan Nagra, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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