Evaluating the availability and quality of online resources for Australian injured workers finalizing workers’ compensation claims

BackgroundThe negative impacts of a compensation claim on injured workers, may continue beyond the end point of a claim and limited resources exist to facilitate this transition.ObjectiveTo identify and evaluate online resources that are currently available for injured workers finalizing a workers' compensation claim in Australia, and to synthesize the information within the resources.MethodsA descriptive research design was utilized. A Community Advisory Group (CAG) appraised the resources for usefulness and readability. The resources were also evaluated independently by two researchers, utilizing the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Benchmark Criteria, evaluating 4 core standards for web sites: authorship, attribution, disclosure, and currency. Information within the resources was synthesized into categories.Results109 resources were screened for inclusion, with 15 online resources meeting inclusion criteria included in analysis. The median CAG appraisal for usefulness ranged from 5 to 8.5 out of 10 and the median CAG appraisal for readability ranged from 5.5 to 10 out of 10. 2 of the 15 resources were considered to contain completely sufficient data following JAMA evaluation. Synthesis of information presented in the resources identified 4 categories related to insurance, financial, legal and healthcare recommendations for injured workers.ConclusionA novel view on resources currently available to injured workers exiting a workers' compensation claim environment in Australia is presented. Limitations are reported and a synthesis of information within the resources and future recommendations to facilitate development of resources for this population are provided.