ST PETERSBURG, Florida–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Ascellus (“the Company”), the workers’ compensation industry’s leading behavioral health platform focused on restoring the physical and mental well-being of the American workforce, today announced the publication of a research study conducted by Asellus clinical staff and collaborators. The study demonstrates the benefits that brief work-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) offers to frontline essential workers whose return-to-work process is hampered by stress, anxiety and depressed mood, by due to the COVID-19 virus. These results contribute to the ever-expanding research demonstrating the positive effects of CBT on improving the health of injured workers whose physical injuries are complicated by psychological distress.
Posted in The Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicinethe study is titled “Addressing mental health factors to improve outcomes in work-related COVID-19.” Conducted between May 2020 and August 2021, the study involved 103 healthcare personnel, first responders and other essential workers who suffered psychological distress as a result of contracting the COVID-19 virus. Participants were referred to Ascellus to address psychosocial and psychological issues preventing their return to work, for which each received a standardized psychological assessment as well as a minimum of three W-CBT sessions. Benefits were measured by comparing pre- and post-treatment recovery, occupational status, and self-reports of work-related and adaptive daily functioning.
Within 12 weeks, 80% of injured workers returned to work and experienced a 40% improvement in functioning relative to work-related goals. Following the introduction of mental health services, injured workers spent less free time than the pre-referral interval, demonstrating the effectiveness of work-focused CBT for injured workers affected by stress, l anxiety and depressed mood related to COVID-19. “The biopsychosocial model of conceptualization and intervention with chronic pain that has been widely accepted by the American Psychological Association (APA), American Pain Society (APS), American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) and others, can also be applied to COVID-19 recovery and at scale can significantly reduce missed work days for our nation’s workforce,” says Aimee Peters, Clinical Innovation Manager at Ascellus.
Ascellus provides evidence-based treatment for pain management, workplace trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), head injuries/mTBI, COVID-19 and stress-related claims in California. Studies have shown that Ascellus programs significantly improve return to work outcomes, with 87% of program participants achieving return to work readiness from a psychological perspective within eight treatment sessions.
About Ascellus
Ascellus is the leading behavioral health platform focused on helping injured workers regain their physical and mental well-being. By bringing people and technology together, Ascellus provides personalized treatment options through a nationwide network of psychologists, psychiatrists and LCSWs, reducing workers’ compensation claims costs and enabling injured workers to resume work faster. To learn more about Ascellus, visit – ascellus.com.
