Resolution Life helping customers back to work

Resolution Life’s Recovery Team has developed a rehabilitation and referral matrix for consistent and targeted decision-making to help ill and injured customers return to work faster.

Since it was developed a year ago, Resolution Life’s Recovery Team has referred over 650 people to rehabilitation services; helping 200 customers return to work and a further 145 people improve their capacity to work.

Executive General Manager Resolution Life Michael Paff said the aim was to develop a personalised strategy for each customer, rapidly connecting them to the services most appropriate to their needs.

“There is strong evidence that demonstrates the longer a person is out of the workplace, the harder it is to return. ¹While life insurance provides a valuable financial safety net, it doesn’t cover a customer’s full salary or include superannuation.

Work is not only essential for financial wellbeing, it also provides a sense of purpose and social connection,” Mr Paff said.

Since the onset of COVID-19, the Resolution Life claims team has intensified its efforts to support customers in need, improving return to work outcomes for around 70% of clients.

The team has provided more than 230 hours of support to customers living with a mental health condition – a recognition of the importance of mental wellbeing at a time of heightened societal stress, and of the significant role mental health issues can play in delaying a return to paid employment.

“This is a difficult and anxious time for everyone, but especially for those who have already suffered a mental or physical illness or injury,” Mr Paff said.

“That makes it all the more important for us to provide professional support so they can start the path to recovery and back to work.”

“The current pandemic and its economic consequences have underlined the benefits of maintaining a link to paid employment and the risks of becoming detached from the workforce.  The rehabilitation matrix is helping us provide much needed personalised support, especially during unprecedented times”.

_{¹The Australasian Faculty of Occupational & Environmental Medicine, Realising the health benefits of work – An evidence update. The Royal Australasian College of Physicians, November 2015.}