Lorimer Moseley, Professor of clinical neurosciences and chair in physiotherapy, school of health sciences at the University of South Australia commenced the discussion by providing an informative background on pain and how it works.
Professor Moseley explained the surprising link between pain and injury, outlining that pain can be “an overprotective beast.” Click here to watch his video “Tame The Beast — It's time to rethink persistent pain.”
He highlighted the impact that chronic pain has on many Australians each day, and why our industry must remain informed so we can better support our members back to health and wellness.
Divisional Manager, Injury Management and Workers Compensation at Coles, Paul Miridakis then gave attendees a look into what large companies experience in this space each day. He talked about the various initiatives and support systems Coles have in place to help to keep staff members in work, or return to work following illness or injury – such as onsite physiotherapy, medical interpreters and increasing the level of comfort around discussing these issues in the workplace.
Group Strategy Manager, Rehabilitation and Claims at AIA, Simonie Fox addressed the importance of looking at the entire recovery journey as it doesn’t just stop at medical treatment.
“In relation to cancer, oncologists have patient loads that are growing and growing, and consequently they’re really focusing on survival, and rightly so… but there’s a piece that gets missed here. That piece is getting someone back to life, back to work, back to enjoying their life after cancer.”
Fox briefly touched on AIA Australia’s suite of services designed to assist members who are living with, or recovering from cancer, including Restore CaRe™ and CaRe Movement™.
Bernard O’Connor, Insurance and Complaints Manager at NGS Super wrapped up the conversation, stating that recovery is often best achieved at work and that we need to put early intervention measures in place.
Despite it being a challenging time for group insurance, the panel agreed that they were optimistic about the future of group insurance and the opportunities we have for continual improvement.
To find out more about AIA Australia’s suite of CaRe™ services, contact your Client Development Manager.
To read more about the Summit, click one of the session topics below.
