A new whitepaper from the Reinsurance Group of America (RGA) takes an in-depth look at relatively new research on psychological resilience and its applicability to disability claims and return to work efforts.
The whitepaper says research on psychological resilience holds significant promise: “While disability claims and return to work offer immediate opportunities for applying psychological resilience research, challenges remain for implementing risk stratification applications,” they write, adding that applying the research to the risk stratification process will require more analysis. “Moving forward, psychological resilience is a field of research the industry should follow closely and support in anticipation of possibilities yet to be uncovered.”
Claims management
The available research suggests a number of practical applications for claims management, the whitepaper, Psychological Resilience: Health impacts and implications for insurers, continues. It also looks at the key elements of psychological resilience, the ways it can improve physical and mental health and at resilience and socioeconomic factors – “the exact mechanisms through which resilience interacts with socioeconomic factors to influence mortality are still under investigation,” they write. Similarly, they say more research is needed to determine the long-term effects of research-related interventions on mortality.
Key obstacles to using resilience research for risk assessment include the lack of an agreed-upon definition of resilience, the lack of standardized scales and limited longitudinal research. (The paper also looks at the subjectivity of self-reporting and the difficulty insurers might have in verifying resilience.)
As for claims, they say assessing psychological resilience early in the disability claims process can identify individuals who may be at greater risk for prolonged absences or poor recovery outcomes. “Those with lower resilience scores can be prioritized for targeted interventions, including cognitive behavioural therapy or resilience training,” the paper recommends. “These opportunities are immediate and could provide further longitudinal data to better support insurance processes.”
