How do general practitioners contribute to preventing long-term work disability of their patients suffering from depressive disorders? A qualitative study

Table 2 Summary of shared GP practices for managing sick leave

Dimensions	Shared practices
Assessment of Sick-leave Relevance
Information essential to supporting the relevance of sick leave	Intensity of the symptoms, magnitude of the functional repercussions
	Rarely evaluated using standardized measurement tools
Frequency of re-assessment	Re-assessment at least every 4 weeks
Treatment of Symptoms
Type of non-pharmacological treatment recommended during sick leave	Psychotherapy
	Regular physical activity
GPs’ order of preference when steering the patient toward psychotherapy services	Employer resources (Employee Assistance Program ─ EAP)
	Private resources
	Public resources
Collaboration with Stakeholders
Exchange of information with psychotherapists	Not frequent but seen as important to ensure consistency between psychotherapist’s and GP’s interventions
Exchange of information with psychotherapists	What is seen as most important is receiving clinical information from the psychotherapist
Exchange of information with employers	Never done and not seen as relevant
Exchange of information with insurers	Limited to periodically filling out forms
Exchange of information with insurers	Seen as important, but solely to facilitate access to specialized services that are otherwise difficult to access (e.g., rehabilitation)

ISSN: 2731-4553