CASE STUDY D
Melissa Johnson
Injured lower back working in hospitality, 18 months off work
Melissa Johnson injured her lower back in 2004 while working in hospitality. Before attending AlphaOne Intensive, Melissa participated in several interventions including passive physiotherapy, a work-related activity program and hydrotherapy. On commencement, her WorkCover certificate cleared Melissa to work 12 hours per week.
Melissa participated in the group-based AlphaOne Intensive program and initially was enthusiastic to learn pain management strategies and to return to work. However, during the second and third weeks of the program, her way of presenting herself changed. She exhibited more severe psychological distress, pain-focused behaviours and fear avoidance. Melissa reported that she was having difficulty driving to the program. Furthermore, she said that she was frustrated that she had not learnt the AlphaOne skills in the first few months following her injury. Overall, Melissa's emotional state was very unstable throughout the program and this seemed to affect her reported pain severity and her motivation to regularly practice the AlphaOne strategies each day.
In her Personal Achievement Coaching (PAC) sessions, Melissa demonstrated an understanding of the techniques, but did not consistently practice the strategies. Her rheumatoid arthritis also caused her pain and interfered with her functional ability. The PAC sessions were tailored to help her to manage her pain while maintaining her daily activities.
By completion of the program, Melissa did not appear ready to upgrade her WorkCover certificate nor proceed to the JPP. For this reason, she had an additional four sessions with the AlphaOne Intensive psychologist to assist her to gain greater control over her psychological issues and further improve her pain management. These sessions resulted in considerable improvement to Melissa's confidence. She was also more regularly applying the skills learnt throughout the program to help her manage both her pain and psychological distress. The WorkCover certificate of Melissa was upgraded to 24 hours work capacity per week and she was referred to a JPP. We have since heard that she has secured employment with a research company and is enjoying it.