Are psychologists and psychiatrists assessing work capacity part of the problem or solution?

Abstract

The aim of this case study was to emphasise the importance of coordination between the members of occupational medicine teams who assess work capacity in persons whose jobs may involve responsibility for other people's safety and health. We have picked out four cases - three visiting nurses and one applicant for driving and firearms licence extension - where psychiatrists/psychologists and occupational health specialist disagreed in their assessment entirely. These cases illustrate how psychologists and psychiatrists tend to support patients' wishes to either remain at their workplace or take disability retirement, whereas occupational health specialists take a different, less easy course, relying on the medical condition of the patient, specific job requirements, and broader implications for public safety. It appears that this is not a problem only in Croatia, but in a number of developed countries as well. This problem calls for additional training of all members of a work capacity assessment team.