January 31, 2025 • 19 mins
In today's episode, we hear from Dr Caroline Howe, Founder of My Social Support Network (MSSN), as she takes us through the year ahead for the podcast, how MSSN works to support and encourage our members to heal and feel safe to get back to work via the Social Cognitive Career Theory.
This year we will be changing things up by bringing inspirational and lived experience stories to you, giving you strength to heal, strength to grow and strength to thrive.
For more information on My Social Support Network, go to www.mssn.com.au or contact us on info@mssn.com.au.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
S1 (00:01):
Hello and welcome to the My Social Support Network podcast,
a series to guide you along the path to recovery
while on workers compensation. In this series, we will answer
questions from you and provide information from experts and people
with lived experience currently going through worker's compensation and those
who have made their way to the other side. Through
these interactions, we'll be giving you tools, advice, but most importantly,
(00:24):
encouragement on what can be a stressful time when you're
also recovering from an injury sustained in your workplace.
S2 (00:31):
I'm Doctor Caroline Howe, and welcome to season two of
the My Social Support Network podcast. Over the last 12 months,
we have endeavored to bring the stories, as well as
the how to's of navigating the complicated world of worker's
compensation to you. Because what we know is that the
(00:54):
world of worker's compensation for those of us that work
in it day after day, it's easy. Boring but easy.
But if you're sitting there at home and you've been
following for the last year, you'll know that it's not easy.
It's overwhelming and it can be really isolating. You have
lots and lots of questions. You don't know who to ask.
(01:15):
And the purpose of the last 12 months has really
been to help answer some of those questions. How to
get financial support, who to ask if you need some
legal advice. We have tried to bring that to you,
but this year now strap in because this year it
gets exciting. This year is all about creating today because
(01:36):
your best tomorrow begins today. No one is going to
be able to make a decision about you for tomorrow
other than you. Your future is in your hands. So
whilst we understand that any kind of event that kind
of derails you and rattles, you can feel really overwhelming.
(01:56):
And if you're in a situation where you might not
have a lot of family support, you might feel isolated,
or you don't really want to draw on the energy
of others and you just need a little bit for yourself.
This year we are going to fill that little bucket
of energy, bring a few smiles to your face, and
change things up by bringing inspirational stories one by one.
(02:18):
And why do we need that? Well, because I need it.
Because even though I might be here speaking every day
and speaking to some of you as you work with
me in my social support network, I need just as
much inspiration to get through some of these tough times
as everybody else. So if you have questions of things
that you'd like to hear this year, you make sure
that you follow the podcast and you get in touch
(02:40):
with us because we are here to work together as
a community. Community is everything and you are all part
of our My Social Support Network community. My social support
network is all about creating community. Over the last 12 months,
what we have learned, particularly in working with psychological injury
(03:02):
or psychological illness or any kind of mental health challenge.
The road to recovery is not easy and it is cyclical.
What we've tried to do in my social support network
is to empower people and to give people the tools
and resources so that they feel like they are in
a position of power again as they step forward in
(03:24):
their future. This isn't our future. It's your future. So
in the community, you might be able to talk to
someone who understands. You might be able to access information
about where to get financial support. You might find yourself
suddenly in the situation where you can't pay your bills,
and you need to find another home. How do you
even go about doing that? And could you enjoy playing
(03:47):
trivia on a Thursday without having to even talk about
some of the burdens you may carry? What we try
and do in my social support network, and what we
have done, is design a community built by people who
are all going through a transition where we can find information, inspiration,
courage and the opportunity to do courses along the way
(04:10):
to help you navigate a way through this period of time.
Because this period of time does not have to be forever.
And there is a light at the end of the
tunnel and we're here to get you on that create.
Today my social support network train and drive with you
beside you to the end of the tunnel. So what
is it about community that's so important? Historically, we were
(04:32):
all meant to live in tribes. Our safety was determined
by our ability to be part of a group that
could look out for us. Now, historically, if I'm sitting
around the campfire and I think, oh, I'll just have
a little nap and a big sabretooth tiger comes running
out of the bush to grab my toes and drag
me away. It would have been really helpful if there
(04:54):
had been a few people there looking out for it.
As we've moved into modern times and we all work
our 9 to 5 jobs, and for some people it's
9 to 9. You know, crazy hours. We've become more
isolated in our world and our sense of community has
changed enormously. In workplaces, we got rid of the water cooler.
We got rid of the smoko breaks. We got rid
(05:17):
of things that were trying to decrease distraction, but we
also got rid of incidental conversation. We got rid of
the opportunity to ask people if they're okay on a
daily basis. Instead of waiting for one day of the year.
So having that sense of community is very much ingrained
in our ability to feel socially safe. And if we
don't feel socially safe, then we do not feel psychologically safe.
(05:40):
And then we also don't feel physically safe, because social
safety is very much ingrained in our ability to allow
our whole environment to tell us whether we are safe
or not. So that's why community is really important. It's
a way for us to walk through our world safely.
And oftentimes when we have an injury or an illness
that prevents us to be with the community. We feel
(06:02):
isolated and then any kind of symptom that we might have.
Can feel worse. Being part of a community offers you
a way to get better quicker. So it's all very
well and good to say that being part of a
community is great, but how do you do that and
what does it actually look like inside MSN? Whenever there
is an injury event, all of a sudden you have
(06:23):
a barrier to either employment. Employment becomes critical because it
is really the easiest way to be part of a community.
Before you think about making TikTok videos or going to
a local community class, which I did. Last year I
tried to learn how to paint, you know, and that
what I thought would be brilliant was actually, well, that
(06:43):
was unexpected because my teacher kept saying, no, Caroline, you
are not an artist. And I thought, yes, I am.
I know I don't need to be so sad because
it was true. And it's just one of those things.
So we don't like to create those sorts of barriers.
But let me get back to the point. Whenever we've
had a Had a physical or a psychological injury that
(07:03):
then creates any form of disability. Very quickly, people can
become detached from work, and work is one of the
key critical community connectors. Research has found that actually any
kind of unemployment or even reduced work capacity has been
associated with so many or a variety of adverse outcomes financial. Physical. Psychological. Social. Emotional.
(07:28):
Higher levels of distress. Anxiety. Stomachaches. Depression. Headaches. Stress. There's
an increased risk of suicide. There's decreased confidence. Reduced social networks. Rejection. Fear.
All of these are just because. And this is what
the research says is related to just unemployment. Without having
(07:51):
that added layer of being injured at work. Once you
start to add the injury at work, you then begin
to have an additional barrier, which are the negative impacts
on your social well-being. You've got an increased risk of
psychiatric morbidity. There is a risk of post-traumatic stress disorder,
(08:12):
poorer physical health and exacerbated vulnerability. The loss of independence,
the sense of burden, the social isolation makes it harder
to ask for help. It also means that there is
the limited ability to actually have access to social networks.
And you'll find that if you're out of work for
any period of time, the fabric with which you used
(08:34):
to attach a network to disappears. And so how do
you start to rebuild that? Social support plays a complex
but key role due to the multitude of people involved
at any time or any kind of type of support
that's provided. So why is it important then to build
(08:55):
personal resources? Now, in my social support network, we've put
a lot of energy in and not only building a community,
but to help people build individual personal resources. Because being
employed is an important aspect of an individual's life that
provides structure, social contact, purpose and identity. And so returning
(09:16):
to work is often a real key outcome for injured workers,
employers and healthcare providers. And needless to say, the worker's
comp insurance companies. The problem is, how do you get
there now? At the moment, about 85% of workers who
experience a work injury will get back to work really quickly.
But if you're in the 15 to 20% of workers
(09:38):
that are absent for a long period of time, or
if you're working with that group or have a family
member in that group, understanding that the barriers of re-entry
increase really quickly, things like self-efficacy. This has been described
as an individual's belief in their capabilities to execute plans
(09:59):
in that are really context Text specific, so you may
have had very clear plans and belief in yourself before,
but that'll get quickly whittled away once you have that injury.
How do you actually rebuild that? And who is going
to help you navigate that? Because by this time you
probably have family members that may not want to know
how you are feeling in this journey. If you don't
(10:21):
have any self efficacy for just the little things, then
how are you actually going to be able to return
to work? So going to work is really the ability
to perform a task, get paid, get some respect at
work and being injured takes that away from you. The
other thing that being away from work creates is an
inability to adapt easily, and you'll find that there may
(10:42):
not be a capacity to cope with change. You won't
necessarily have the ability to recover from unforeseen events, and
maybe your comfort levels have changed and reduced a lot
as well. Now, career adaptability comprises of four factors. The
first is concern forward thinking career development. How do you
(11:03):
have that when you are sitting injured? You don't have
anyone to talk to and you don't know where to go. Control.
It's the discipline and motivation to achieve career goals. Well,
that's fine if you have a career, but if suddenly
that's taken away from you, then how do you actually
exert control? Curiosity. That's the ability to actually seek information
(11:24):
and explore options and make career decisions. And I don't
know about you, but after all my years in workers comp,
someone who has been injured for a long time does
not have curiosity. They are scared and they are avoidant
and they don't feel like anyone hears them. So you
need to be able to create an opportunity for people
to be curious again. And then finally is confidence. And
(11:45):
that's the belief and the ability to realize career goals.
But again, if I already am coming at that problem
with low confidence, where do I even start further? We
have hope and optimism. Now, hope and optimism is the
underpinning of Pinning of resiliency. It's a readiness for change,
better social adjustment, higher self-esteem. You also have lower levels
(12:07):
of loneliness. So you can kind of see where I'm
going with all of this because we then layer in
coping and then perceived employability. So taking someone out of
their work environment with or without pain, but having that
moment of social isolation is so critical, is so detrimental
to someone's ability to interact with their community. What my
(12:30):
social support tries to do is to facilitate the social
support that you would normally get from work, but from
a safe place which is at home, and then you
can interact with the social support and the community, and
you can then step forward independently. And there are four
(12:51):
different types of support that we offer. And the first
one is tangible support. Can I pick up a phone?
Can I talk to someone? Can I book myself in
for an appointment? Are there tools, resources available? Programs where
I can regain control, where I can rebuild habits? That's
a sort of tangible support that then my social support
network offers. The second is the emotional support. Is there
(13:16):
an opportunity for someone who can listen to me, not
have to offer a solution necessarily? If we go to
a doctor, they have a solution. If we go and
see a psychiatrist, they will readily offer you some medication.
A psychologist, they will also ask you to do homework.
There are tools and resources that you really need to
(13:37):
work in, but very rarely do you have the opportunity
to get the emotional support like you would at the
water cooler. When you heard that Lady Di passed away
and you just wanted someone to be sad with you,
not judge you for being an absolute royal monarchist like
I am. And finally, information. Now there's actually a nice
(13:57):
little piece of research that had a look at. But
why does someone who has an injury, why would they
go online and why would they look for community support?
And it was for information access to resources so that
they can make their own decisions. So combined that's really
the research underpinning of why we have a community that's
available online and why that then helps start to rebuild
(14:21):
those small stepping stones, helping someone get from bed to
the front door. Now, in the social groups, people have asked, well,
what do you do and why do you do it
the way that you do it? And we do it
so that we can create connection. So I don't have
to feel really well that day. I could be lying
in bed, I could have zero capacity, but I might
have enough energy to scroll on my phone. And then
(14:44):
when I pick up my phone and I go into
the create today space where the my social support network
community is, I can think, oh, ukulele class at 7:00
on a Tuesday night. Well, that sounds like it might
be fun. I might see the podcast working group and
this podcast is a is a result of the podcast
working group run by injured workers for injured workers. These
(15:06):
are stepping stones that help fill this silence and the time,
and they help us also maintain focus. Because if I'm
focusing now on building a podcast and how do I
get that out and who might listen to it and
what topics are we talking about and what kind of
trivia might we have on Thursday? Or is the 6:30 a.m.
(15:27):
exercise class running? And then I've got to go to
building foundations if I have those things to look forward to.
I'm now not so worried about what's happening in my
own personal worker's comp, in that I have the opportunity
to have a normal conversation the next time someone calls.
And my life isn't just about worker's comp anymore. All
of this is actually I mean, I do love a theory,
(15:50):
so really, it's the social cognitive career theory that we
draw all of this from. So even though there have
probably been people over the last 12 months to go,
why do you have my social support network and why
do you do what you do? The theories that underpin
it are the social cognitive career theory and also the
social safety theory. Because if we are unable in workers
comp to help rebuild pathways to interests, give people the
(16:14):
choice to make a decision that then helps support behaviour change,
allows them to do something that gives them the confidence
to try something new, that allows them then the opportunity
to feel that satisfaction and then self management. If we
aren't able to help people step that through, then how
do we actually get them back to work? So my
(16:37):
social support network is a very specific piece of the
puzzle of recovery, and has been designed for anybody who
is struggling to just get out that front door and
try something in a safe environment where they don't need
to feel judged, where they have the opportunity to participate,
(16:57):
and where if they fail, then that's okay, because that's
part of rebuilding resilience and rebuilding that self-efficacy. Well, that
wraps up episode one of 2025. I am so excited
about this year. This year is going to be a
big year of change, not only for me, but for
(17:18):
everybody else who comes along with us on this podcast.
We are going to be talking to people who inspire us,
who tell us how to get across that really big chasm.
When you feel a little bit afraid, because I know
I need that pretty much every day. And then we're
going to also talk to people who are academic leaders
(17:39):
in this field and dig into the research a little
bit more as well, because I know that there are
some of you that are sitting out there and thinking, yep, Caroline. Great,
but what does the data say? So keep your eyes peeled, everybody,
because we have got some incredible academics, researchers, lived experience
and just general fun chit chat coming your way in 2025.
(18:04):
This is going to be an exciting year for all
of us. This is create today with your best. Tomorrow
begins today.
S1 (18:13):
Well, you've been listening. You may have found some of
these concepts challenging, so if you are needing help, please
reach out. For more information, you can follow us on
our socials or if you require urgent support, please reach
out to the police or the ambulance on 000 lifeline
on 13 1114. That's 13 1114 Beyondblue on 1300 224 636. That's 1300 224 636.
(18:41):
The 24 hour mental health access line, which is one
800 01501. That's one 800 0151. And if you think
you could benefit from some legal advice, reach out to
the i'ro. Who can recommend some lawyers or someone to
help you with your current legal case? Thank you for
joining us and we'll be back next time.
Hello and welcome to the My Social Support Network podcast,
a series to guide you along the path to recovery
while on workers compensation. In this series, we will answer
questions from you and provide information from experts and people
with lived experience currently going through worker's compensation and those
who have made their way to the other side. Through
these interactions, we'll be giving you tools, advice, but most importantly,
(00:24):
encouragement on what can be a stressful time when you're
also recovering from an injury sustained in your workplace.
S2 (00:31):
I'm Doctor Caroline Howe, and welcome to season two of
the My Social Support Network podcast. Over the last 12 months,
we have endeavored to bring the stories, as well as
the how to's of navigating the complicated world of worker's
compensation to you. Because what we know is that the
(00:54):
world of worker's compensation for those of us that work
in it day after day, it's easy. Boring but easy.
But if you're sitting there at home and you've been
following for the last year, you'll know that it's not easy.
It's overwhelming and it can be really isolating. You have
lots and lots of questions. You don't know who to ask.
(01:15):
And the purpose of the last 12 months has really
been to help answer some of those questions. How to
get financial support, who to ask if you need some
legal advice. We have tried to bring that to you,
but this year now strap in because this year it
gets exciting. This year is all about creating today because
(01:36):
your best tomorrow begins today. No one is going to
be able to make a decision about you for tomorrow
other than you. Your future is in your hands. So
whilst we understand that any kind of event that kind
of derails you and rattles, you can feel really overwhelming.
(01:56):
And if you're in a situation where you might not
have a lot of family support, you might feel isolated,
or you don't really want to draw on the energy
of others and you just need a little bit for yourself.
This year we are going to fill that little bucket
of energy, bring a few smiles to your face, and
change things up by bringing inspirational stories one by one.
(02:18):
And why do we need that? Well, because I need it.
Because even though I might be here speaking every day
and speaking to some of you as you work with
me in my social support network, I need just as
much inspiration to get through some of these tough times
as everybody else. So if you have questions of things
that you'd like to hear this year, you make sure
that you follow the podcast and you get in touch
(02:40):
with us because we are here to work together as
a community. Community is everything and you are all part
of our My Social Support Network community. My social support
network is all about creating community. Over the last 12 months,
what we have learned, particularly in working with psychological injury
(03:02):
or psychological illness or any kind of mental health challenge.
The road to recovery is not easy and it is cyclical.
What we've tried to do in my social support network
is to empower people and to give people the tools
and resources so that they feel like they are in
a position of power again as they step forward in
(03:24):
their future. This isn't our future. It's your future. So
in the community, you might be able to talk to
someone who understands. You might be able to access information
about where to get financial support. You might find yourself
suddenly in the situation where you can't pay your bills,
and you need to find another home. How do you
even go about doing that? And could you enjoy playing
(03:47):
trivia on a Thursday without having to even talk about
some of the burdens you may carry? What we try
and do in my social support network, and what we
have done, is design a community built by people who
are all going through a transition where we can find information, inspiration,
courage and the opportunity to do courses along the way
(04:10):
to help you navigate a way through this period of time.
Because this period of time does not have to be forever.
And there is a light at the end of the
tunnel and we're here to get you on that create.
Today my social support network train and drive with you
beside you to the end of the tunnel. So what
is it about community that's so important? Historically, we were
(04:32):
all meant to live in tribes. Our safety was determined
by our ability to be part of a group that
could look out for us. Now, historically, if I'm sitting
around the campfire and I think, oh, I'll just have
a little nap and a big sabretooth tiger comes running
out of the bush to grab my toes and drag
me away. It would have been really helpful if there
(04:54):
had been a few people there looking out for it.
As we've moved into modern times and we all work
our 9 to 5 jobs, and for some people it's
9 to 9. You know, crazy hours. We've become more
isolated in our world and our sense of community has
changed enormously. In workplaces, we got rid of the water cooler.
We got rid of the smoko breaks. We got rid
(05:17):
of things that were trying to decrease distraction, but we
also got rid of incidental conversation. We got rid of
the opportunity to ask people if they're okay on a
daily basis. Instead of waiting for one day of the year.
So having that sense of community is very much ingrained
in our ability to feel socially safe. And if we
don't feel socially safe, then we do not feel psychologically safe.
(05:40):
And then we also don't feel physically safe, because social
safety is very much ingrained in our ability to allow
our whole environment to tell us whether we are safe
or not. So that's why community is really important. It's
a way for us to walk through our world safely.
And oftentimes when we have an injury or an illness
that prevents us to be with the community. We feel
(06:02):
isolated and then any kind of symptom that we might have.
Can feel worse. Being part of a community offers you
a way to get better quicker. So it's all very
well and good to say that being part of a
community is great, but how do you do that and
what does it actually look like inside MSN? Whenever there
is an injury event, all of a sudden you have
(06:23):
a barrier to either employment. Employment becomes critical because it
is really the easiest way to be part of a community.
Before you think about making TikTok videos or going to
a local community class, which I did. Last year I
tried to learn how to paint, you know, and that
what I thought would be brilliant was actually, well, that
(06:43):
was unexpected because my teacher kept saying, no, Caroline, you
are not an artist. And I thought, yes, I am.
I know I don't need to be so sad because
it was true. And it's just one of those things.
So we don't like to create those sorts of barriers.
But let me get back to the point. Whenever we've
had a Had a physical or a psychological injury that
(07:03):
then creates any form of disability. Very quickly, people can
become detached from work, and work is one of the
key critical community connectors. Research has found that actually any
kind of unemployment or even reduced work capacity has been
associated with so many or a variety of adverse outcomes financial. Physical. Psychological. Social. Emotional.
(07:28):
Higher levels of distress. Anxiety. Stomachaches. Depression. Headaches. Stress. There's
an increased risk of suicide. There's decreased confidence. Reduced social networks. Rejection. Fear.
All of these are just because. And this is what
the research says is related to just unemployment. Without having
(07:51):
that added layer of being injured at work. Once you
start to add the injury at work, you then begin
to have an additional barrier, which are the negative impacts
on your social well-being. You've got an increased risk of
psychiatric morbidity. There is a risk of post-traumatic stress disorder,
(08:12):
poorer physical health and exacerbated vulnerability. The loss of independence,
the sense of burden, the social isolation makes it harder
to ask for help. It also means that there is
the limited ability to actually have access to social networks.
And you'll find that if you're out of work for
any period of time, the fabric with which you used
(08:34):
to attach a network to disappears. And so how do
you start to rebuild that? Social support plays a complex
but key role due to the multitude of people involved
at any time or any kind of type of support
that's provided. So why is it important then to build
(08:55):
personal resources? Now, in my social support network, we've put
a lot of energy in and not only building a community,
but to help people build individual personal resources. Because being
employed is an important aspect of an individual's life that
provides structure, social contact, purpose and identity. And so returning
(09:16):
to work is often a real key outcome for injured workers,
employers and healthcare providers. And needless to say, the worker's
comp insurance companies. The problem is, how do you get
there now? At the moment, about 85% of workers who
experience a work injury will get back to work really quickly.
But if you're in the 15 to 20% of workers
(09:38):
that are absent for a long period of time, or
if you're working with that group or have a family
member in that group, understanding that the barriers of re-entry
increase really quickly, things like self-efficacy. This has been described
as an individual's belief in their capabilities to execute plans
(09:59):
in that are really context Text specific, so you may
have had very clear plans and belief in yourself before,
but that'll get quickly whittled away once you have that injury.
How do you actually rebuild that? And who is going
to help you navigate that? Because by this time you
probably have family members that may not want to know
how you are feeling in this journey. If you don't
(10:21):
have any self efficacy for just the little things, then
how are you actually going to be able to return
to work? So going to work is really the ability
to perform a task, get paid, get some respect at
work and being injured takes that away from you. The
other thing that being away from work creates is an
inability to adapt easily, and you'll find that there may
(10:42):
not be a capacity to cope with change. You won't
necessarily have the ability to recover from unforeseen events, and
maybe your comfort levels have changed and reduced a lot
as well. Now, career adaptability comprises of four factors. The
first is concern forward thinking career development. How do you
(11:03):
have that when you are sitting injured? You don't have
anyone to talk to and you don't know where to go. Control.
It's the discipline and motivation to achieve career goals. Well,
that's fine if you have a career, but if suddenly
that's taken away from you, then how do you actually
exert control? Curiosity. That's the ability to actually seek information
(11:24):
and explore options and make career decisions. And I don't
know about you, but after all my years in workers comp,
someone who has been injured for a long time does
not have curiosity. They are scared and they are avoidant
and they don't feel like anyone hears them. So you
need to be able to create an opportunity for people
to be curious again. And then finally is confidence. And
(11:45):
that's the belief and the ability to realize career goals.
But again, if I already am coming at that problem
with low confidence, where do I even start further? We
have hope and optimism. Now, hope and optimism is the
underpinning of Pinning of resiliency. It's a readiness for change,
better social adjustment, higher self-esteem. You also have lower levels
(12:07):
of loneliness. So you can kind of see where I'm
going with all of this because we then layer in
coping and then perceived employability. So taking someone out of
their work environment with or without pain, but having that
moment of social isolation is so critical, is so detrimental
to someone's ability to interact with their community. What my
(12:30):
social support tries to do is to facilitate the social
support that you would normally get from work, but from
a safe place which is at home, and then you
can interact with the social support and the community, and
you can then step forward independently. And there are four
(12:51):
different types of support that we offer. And the first
one is tangible support. Can I pick up a phone?
Can I talk to someone? Can I book myself in
for an appointment? Are there tools, resources available? Programs where
I can regain control, where I can rebuild habits? That's
a sort of tangible support that then my social support
network offers. The second is the emotional support. Is there
(13:16):
an opportunity for someone who can listen to me, not
have to offer a solution necessarily? If we go to
a doctor, they have a solution. If we go and
see a psychiatrist, they will readily offer you some medication.
A psychologist, they will also ask you to do homework.
There are tools and resources that you really need to
(13:37):
work in, but very rarely do you have the opportunity
to get the emotional support like you would at the
water cooler. When you heard that Lady Di passed away
and you just wanted someone to be sad with you,
not judge you for being an absolute royal monarchist like
I am. And finally, information. Now there's actually a nice
(13:57):
little piece of research that had a look at. But
why does someone who has an injury, why would they
go online and why would they look for community support?
And it was for information access to resources so that
they can make their own decisions. So combined that's really
the research underpinning of why we have a community that's
available online and why that then helps start to rebuild
(14:21):
those small stepping stones, helping someone get from bed to
the front door. Now, in the social groups, people have asked, well,
what do you do and why do you do it
the way that you do it? And we do it
so that we can create connection. So I don't have
to feel really well that day. I could be lying
in bed, I could have zero capacity, but I might
have enough energy to scroll on my phone. And then
(14:44):
when I pick up my phone and I go into
the create today space where the my social support network
community is, I can think, oh, ukulele class at 7:00
on a Tuesday night. Well, that sounds like it might
be fun. I might see the podcast working group and
this podcast is a is a result of the podcast
working group run by injured workers for injured workers. These
(15:06):
are stepping stones that help fill this silence and the time,
and they help us also maintain focus. Because if I'm
focusing now on building a podcast and how do I
get that out and who might listen to it and
what topics are we talking about and what kind of
trivia might we have on Thursday? Or is the 6:30 a.m.
(15:27):
exercise class running? And then I've got to go to
building foundations if I have those things to look forward to.
I'm now not so worried about what's happening in my
own personal worker's comp, in that I have the opportunity
to have a normal conversation the next time someone calls.
And my life isn't just about worker's comp anymore. All
of this is actually I mean, I do love a theory,
(15:50):
so really, it's the social cognitive career theory that we
draw all of this from. So even though there have
probably been people over the last 12 months to go,
why do you have my social support network and why
do you do what you do? The theories that underpin
it are the social cognitive career theory and also the
social safety theory. Because if we are unable in workers
comp to help rebuild pathways to interests, give people the
(16:14):
choice to make a decision that then helps support behaviour change,
allows them to do something that gives them the confidence
to try something new, that allows them then the opportunity
to feel that satisfaction and then self management. If we
aren't able to help people step that through, then how
do we actually get them back to work? So my
(16:37):
social support network is a very specific piece of the
puzzle of recovery, and has been designed for anybody who
is struggling to just get out that front door and
try something in a safe environment where they don't need
to feel judged, where they have the opportunity to participate,
(16:57):
and where if they fail, then that's okay, because that's
part of rebuilding resilience and rebuilding that self-efficacy. Well, that
wraps up episode one of 2025. I am so excited
about this year. This year is going to be a
big year of change, not only for me, but for
(17:18):
everybody else who comes along with us on this podcast.
We are going to be talking to people who inspire us,
who tell us how to get across that really big chasm.
When you feel a little bit afraid, because I know
I need that pretty much every day. And then we're
going to also talk to people who are academic leaders
(17:39):
in this field and dig into the research a little
bit more as well, because I know that there are
some of you that are sitting out there and thinking, yep, Caroline. Great,
but what does the data say? So keep your eyes peeled, everybody,
because we have got some incredible academics, researchers, lived experience
and just general fun chit chat coming your way in 2025.
(18:04):
This is going to be an exciting year for all
of us. This is create today with your best. Tomorrow
begins today.
S1 (18:13):
Well, you've been listening. You may have found some of
these concepts challenging, so if you are needing help, please
reach out. For more information, you can follow us on
our socials or if you require urgent support, please reach
out to the police or the ambulance on 000 lifeline
on 13 1114. That's 13 1114 Beyondblue on 1300 224 636. That's 1300 224 636.
(18:41):
The 24 hour mental health access line, which is one
800 01501. That's one 800 0151. And if you think
you could benefit from some legal advice, reach out to
the i'ro. Who can recommend some lawyers or someone to
help you with your current legal case? Thank you for
joining us and we'll be back next time.
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