Claimant and clinician perspectives on sources of claimant distress in interactions with Australian compensation schemes: A qualitative study

Abstract Purpose Recovering from compensable injuries can be influenced by a variety of factors including the claimant’s experience of distress during the claims process. In order to develop cross-scheme, nation-wide strategies to improve claimants’ interactions with the compensation system, reduce claimant distress, and improve claimant outcomes, it is important to understand sources of claims-related distress from the perspective of both claimants and clinicians. Methods Semi-structured interviews with 13 claimants and 26 clinicians from four injury compensation schemes in five Australian states were conducted. A collaborative and reflexive thematic analysis was undertaken with an inductive approach to coding, and themes were constructed for claimants and clinicians across compensation schemes. Results Claimants and clinicians interviews revealed four main sources of distress, including (1) complexity and delays in administrative processes, (2) interruptions to recovery caused by treatment delays, (3) standardised approaches to care, and (4) a lack of support for navigating the claims process. Conclusion Sources of claims-related distress identified by claimants and clinicians in the present study are consistent with previous quantitative and qualitative studies published over the past 20 years, pointing to the urgent need for nationwide systems level changes to reduce claimant distress in the pursuit of better claimant outcomes.