Barriers to and facilitators of return to work after sick leave in workers with common mental disorders: Perspectives of workers, mental health professionals, occupational health professionals, general physicians and managers

Common mental disorders (CMDs) are among the leading causes of disability worldwide and have a major impact in terms of lost productivity and sickness absence. Returning to work is a complex process in which different stakeholders are involved and have to co-operate. The aim of this study is to gain an understanding of the return-to-work (RTW) process of workers on sick leave with CMDs, and of the RTW barriers and facilitators from a multi-stakeholder perspective. The perspective of important stakeholder groups on barriers and facilitators and their own role in the RTW process were explored in four focus groups, i.e. with mental health professionals, occupational health professionals, general physicians and managers (PART A). Workers’ own perspectives on what had led to sickness absence, as well as on RTW barriers and facilitators, were explored using face-to-face interviews with three sub-groups of workers: workers with CMDs on short-, medium- and long-term sickness absence. All workers were interviewed twice to fully capture the nature of the RTW process (PART B).