Recovery from some physical and psychological injuries can be lengthy. You will probably have a lot of questions. Some of them will relate to the injury itself, what it is, what treatment involves, and will they be okay. At the same time, you might start to wonder what this means for your daily life.
Impacts of injury on your home life
It’s perfectly normal to have a lot of thoughts swimming through your mind as you try to work through all the activities you may need to reconsider, re-prioritise or make alternate plans for. For example, childcare arrangements including school drop-off and pick-ups may be interrupted if your partner can no longer drive, or certain household tasks will need to be redistributed.
Things that are helpful to know right from the start are:
- Physical limits
How long can they stand, sit, drive or walk for
- What improvements are expected
In some cases your partner won’t go “back to normal” and so the health provider and your partner will work on getting them to their best possible self.
- Medication and side-effects
If your partner is placed on medication it is helpful to know what the medication does and whether any side-effects might occur. This will help you understand why for example they aren’t eating as much, are sleeping more, feeling irritable or seem to be less interested in sex than normal.
- If this will impact your finances
Depending on your partner’s job and the state you live in and the duration and severity of their injury, the injury may impact your finances.
- When will they return to work?
Information privacy
Information privacy is important in the workers’ compensation system. A number of privacy protocols are built in to protect your loved one. We cannot give out any personal or medical information without written approval from your loved one.
Your loved one may wish to share their paperwork with you or let you sit in on appointments where appropriate (see article How can I understand what is happening with my loved one’s mental health condition?).
