Early Systematic Psychosocial Matched Care
High-fidelity psychosocial matched care delivers major improvements in recovery times, claim costs, and worker satisfaction.
Workers’ compensation schemes often focus primarily on the physical injury, overlooking the psychosocial factors that impact recovery. Research shows that psychosocial barriers (such as distress, workplace conflict, and poor self-efficacy) are among the leading contributors to prolonged disability and delayed return to work. Psychosocial matched care is a structured approach that ensures interventions are tailored to individual workers based on their specific risk factors. Instead of a one-size-fits-all model, it systematically identifies workers at elevated psychosocial risk and delivers targeted counselling, workplace adjustments, and medical coordination to improve outcomes.
But we recognise that implementation is challenging, particularly within complex environments. "Early systematic psychosocial matched care for worker's compensation schemes: A best practice guide" aims to support the industry by providing both the evidence base and practical guidance on implementation. While this model may not suit every insurer or scheme, it offers substantial opportunities for improving outcomes. We encourage all insurers and schemes to consider this option, explore their own business case for implementation, and where appropriate develop an approach that suits their particular organisation.
The It Pays to Care team expresses our acknowledgement and gratitude to the expert authorship panel:
- Dr Mary Wyatt
- Dr Pam Garton
- Professor Michael Nicholas
- Associate Professor Ross Iles
The Best Practice Guide
In May 2025, the authorship panel launched the Guide at an industry event in Melbourne.
The guide is supported by a supporting implementation resource provides implementation resources, templates and operational guidance to support the delivery of early systematic psychosocial matched care in workers' compensation schemes. It should be read in conjunction with the Best Practice Guide, which outlines the evidence base, core principles and implementation framework.
"When we teach people self-management skills early - helping them understand the connection between their thoughts, emotions, and physical symptoms - they develop the confidence and tools to manage their situation effectively. The guide shows organisations how to systematically deliver that empowerment through psychosocial measurement, structured training and implementation processes. The earlier we can build those self-management capabilities, the better the outcomes for everyone."
Pam
"Our psychosocial matched care programme has been running successfully for some years now. Our implementation approach included engaging and training the team properly with clear protocols, and willingness to modify as we learnt. Our team value the system, seeing the better outcomes for workers and gaining great satisfaction from being able to support team members well. It gives them clear direction on how to help high-risk workers early, rather than waiting for problems to escalate. The outcomes have been excellent in RTW across all our measures."
Amy
"We don't need more questionnaires - we need to properly implement what we know works. This system of supporting people has excellent outcomes but needs to be actively maintained. Without proper protocols and ongoing monitoring, even the best programs drift back to old practices. The guide provides organisations with the framework to implement and sustain psychosocial matched care effectively."
Michael
"One of the key insights from our research is that the longer you leave dealing with psychosocial barriers, the harder they become to address. The guide provides organisations with a systematic framework to get in early - identifying at-risk workers within the first few weeks and intervening before problems become entrenched. The evidence from studies like WISE shows this early systematic approach can dramatically improve outcomes when organisations have the right implementation framework."
Ross