Experimental Evidence on the Effect of a Self-Management Support Intervention on Long-Term Sickness Absence

This article examines the effect of self-management support on long-term sickness absence. The intervention offers information and strategies aimed at enhancing individuals’ confidence in their own ability to deal with sickness absence. Using survey and administrative data linked to a randomized controlled trial, we show that self-management support did not enhance control beliefs, increased sickness absence by 15 weeks (27 percent increase relative to the control group) and had a lasting negative impact on employment, concentrated among workers sick-listed from regular employment