Introduction: People suffering from chronic pain are unable to maintain a satisfactory life style because the pain hinders different aspects of daily living, such as: self-care, leisure, household work, work and rest. Safety, independence and financial stability is gained with having a job, but if a person becomes handicapped because of pain and can't adapt to his work environment it can lead to an early retirement. To maintain financial security, independence and autonomy interdisciplinary treatment should also include occupational therapy which is focused on return to work and not just pain relief. Purpose: The purpose of the thesis was to review the literature on the role of the occupational therapist in the interdisciplinary treatment of people with chronic pain in the process of return to work. Methods: A qualitative research approach with literature review was used. For review were used articles published between 2009 and 2019. Literature was searched in online bibliographic databases, scientific journals which were written in Slovenian or in English. Results: The most common models used during treatment of people with chronic pain were: biopsychosocial model, Canadian model of occupational performance and model of human occupation. Assessment instruments investigated factors that encourage or inhibit the process of return to work in the home and work environment, investigated the preferences and expectations of the person that suffers chronic pain, and explores their job tasks. Discussion and Conclusion: Interdisciplinary rehabilitation of persons with chronic pain that include occupational therapy and are focused on workplace intervention are based on ergonomic approaches and cognitive behavioural principles are seen as effective because they improve function, work ability and communication among professionals, persons and employers. Occupational therapist provide workplace adaptations that prevent the increase of pain or find the ways to change the work performance. This review however showed that occupational therapist are not sufficiently included in the interdisciplinary support to persons with chronic pain in their return to work process.
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