Bryan Weichelt, PhD, Director of the Return to Work project was recently published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research with this innovative program.
Project Description
Dates: 2012 – current
Serious, restrictive, non-fatal injuries are commonplace in large animal agriculture, including in pork and dairy production. The cost of workplace injuries in dairy production is unknown, but given the frequency of injury among workers in dairy, it is certainly a burden to the industry.
Clinicians in the primary care setting increasingly are the front line for treating occupational injuries and responsible for managing workers’ return to work. Primary care clinicians are often poorly equipped to mangage and treat occupational injuries and illness and have few resources to facilitate workers’ return to work.
The Return to Work project will create a mechanism to bring the realities of work on the farm to the clinic in a way that the clinician can review, understand and develop a transitional plan that will safely and promptly return the worker to the workplace.
SPECIFIC AIMS:
- Develop a collection of tasks in dairy and pork.
- Convert and integrate Physical and Occupational Therapists’ unstructured narrative data into structured data.
- Design and pilot an interactive software application, used as a clinicians’ guide in return to work planning for injured dairy and pork workers.
2015 Project Update
The Return to Work project was designed to develop a computer application that would assist treating physicians in safely returning injured agricultural workers to their place of employment when they are not yet fully recovered but still capable of doing some productive tasks. The project team continues make great strides in the development of this application.
Farm task data collection is continuing through the end of Year 4. We have now visited 32 farms across Wisconsin and Minnesota. We have moved all data from the physical and occupational therapists’ notes to Microsoft word format, then into a RedCap system. This system will house all farm task data that has been collected by therapists. We have loaded approximately 90% of the task data into a structured format, via RedCap. Select pieces of that data, critical to the Return-to-Work algorithm, are currently being loaded into the application database.
Thousands of farm task photos have also been captured over the past grant year. These photos will be loaded into a SharePoint photo library and indexed for optimal search. The photos are also linked to specific tasks. Within the software application, they are used as educational tools to facilitate communication between the clinician and the patient.
Primary application development is still underway. The mobile-friendly, web application is functional and will be undergoing usability testing with clinicians, residents, and other users throughout the first quarter of year 5.
Empowering clinicians to provide injured workers in dairy and pork production with an effective and adaptive return to work program, which takes into account the limitations of the injured worker and the needs of the work place.
SafeReturntoWork.org
The Return to Work project team has launched a new website as a tool for farmers and clinicians to improve the Return-to-Work process for injured/ill workers. The system provides an interactive user interface that produces recommended light duty return to work job assemblies (LDJA).
The website features the assessment tool, as well as materials and guidance on workers’ compensation and the return-to-work process.
Project Personnel
PROJECT DIRECTOR
![Photo of Bryan Weichelt PhD, MBA]( "Photo of Bryan Weichelt PhD, MBA")
Phone: 715-221-7276
Email: weichelt.bryan@mcrf.mfldclin.edu
SENIOR ADVISOR
Bryan Weichelt PhD, MBA
Project Scientist National Farm Medicine CenterSENIOR ADVISOR
![Photo of Matthew C. Keifer MD, MPH]( "Photo of Matthew C. Keifer MD, MPH")
Matthew C. Keifer MD, MPH
Director, Employee Occupational Health
VA Puget Sound Medical CenterProfessor of Medicine and Public Health, University of Washington
Email: Matthew.keifer@va.gov
Website: View Bio
Matthew C. Keifer MD, MPH
Director, Employee Occupational Health VA Puget Sound Medical CenterProfessor of Medicine and Public Health, University of WashingtonPROJECT PERSONNELSTAFF:
SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT TEAM:
STAFF:
![Photo of Nancy Bellendorf OTR]( "Photo of Nancy Bellendorf OTR")
Nancy Bellendorf OTR
Consultant
Work Safe Therapy & Ergonomics
Phone: 715-499-1147
Email: worksafe@ceas.coop
Nancy Bellendorf OTR
Consultant Work Safe Therapy & ErgonomicsSOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT TEAM:
![Photo of Shaun Halstead]( "Photo of Shaun Halstead")
Shaun Halstead
Database Administrator
Marshfield Clinic Research FoundationBiomedical Informatics Research Center
![Photo of Andrea Mahnke]( "Photo of Andrea Mahnke")
Andrea Mahnke
Usability Analyst Senior
Marshfield Clinic Research FoundationBiomedical Informatics Research Center
![Photo of Will Ray]( "Photo of Will Ray")
Will Ray
Programmer/Analyst Senior
Marshfield Clinic Research FoundationBiomedical Informatics Research Center
![Photo of Kate Thomas MA]( "Photo of Kate Thomas MA")
Kate Thomas MA
Usability Analyst
Marshfield Clinic Research FoundationBiomedical Informatics Research Center
![Photo of Laurel Verhagen]( "Photo of Laurel Verhagen")
Laurel Verhagen
Manager – Research Analytics
Marshfield Clinic Research FoundationBiomedical Informatics Research Center
Shaun Halstead
Database Administrator Marshfield Clinic Research FoundationBiomedical Informatics Research Center
Andrea Mahnke
Usability Analyst Senior Marshfield Clinic Research FoundationBiomedical Informatics Research Center
Will Ray
Programmer/Analyst Senior Marshfield Clinic Research FoundationBiomedical Informatics Research Center
Kate Thomas MA
Usability Analyst Marshfield Clinic Research FoundationBiomedical Informatics Research Center
Laurel Verhagen
Manager – Research Analytics Marshfield Clinic Research FoundationBiomedical Informatics Research CenterProject News
Return to Work Project Featured in the Journal of Medical Internet Research
SPOTLIGHT: A Better Way to Return To Work
When farm workers are forced to take time off due to sickness or injuries, the current return-to-work process has often been a hardship for both the individual
Andrea Mahnke Presents Return to Work Poster at American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) 2015
Andrea Mahnke presented a poster at the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) annual symposium in San Francisco in November 2015. The title
Bryan Weichelt Presents Poster at APHA 2015
Bryan Weichelt presented a poster at the American Public Health Association (APHA) annual meeting in Chicago in November 2015. The title of the poster
UMASH at 142nd Annual Meeting of APHA
UMASH was represented well at APHA in New Orleans, Louisiana, November 17-19. Healthography was the theme for this 142nd Annual Meeting of the American
UMASH Presents at the Midwest Regional Agricultural Safety and Health (MRASH) Conference
In November 2012, UMASH staff and faculty attended the Midwest Regional Agricultural Safety and Health (MRASH) Conference in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Center
National Farm Medicine Center Conducts Worksite Visit
The National Farm Medicine Center conducted a worksite visit to a Wisconsin farm as part of the Return to Work project. Investigators are developing a
