Health and Work is an extension of the employment-oriented treatment services provided by the specialist health service following the reorganisation of the "Raskere tilbake” (“Recover faster”) scheme in 2018. The purpose of work-oriented treatment and rehabilitation is to promote better health and work capacity, and improve job coping skills, and quality of life.
Target group
If you have dropped out of work, education or school due to illness, or are at risk of dropping out, you may be referred to a Health and Work offer at a hospital or work-oriented rehabilitation at a rehabilitation institution. You can get help to improve the quality of life and your ability to function in everyday life.
It is also possible to be referred if you are at risk of being on sick leave. Then the goal is to avoid sick leave. The service is also available to those who are seeking to improve their study life.
Health and Work is mainly aimed at people with mental disorders (anxiety, depression) and musculoskeletal disorders. The service is part of the public health service, and a strong partnership with NAV, your general practitioner (GP) and any employer will be vital.
A normal user fee will be payable, up to the limit for exemption cards. Your travel expenses will be refunded in the same way as with the rest of the specialist health service.
You will need a referral
The services mainly comprises of
- work-oriented treatment or rehabilitation at outpatient clinics for patients with musculoskeletal disorders,
- work-focused individual outpatient treatment of patients with common mental disorders
- work-oriented rehabilitation as day or 24-hour provision at a rehabilitation institution.
You will be referred to Health and Work by your GP, hospital doctor, chiropractor or manual therapist. If you are referred, you will be referred to the specialist health service in the same way as all other patient groups.
The referral must state the following:
- The issue concerned
- Employment circumstances
- Sick leave status
- Any previous investigations/treatment
- Previous work-oriented measures that have been tried
- Your telephone number
The referral is sent directly to the rehabilitation institution, which itself carries out a rights assessment of your rights, or to the regional coordinating unit (RKE) in the Regional Health Authority.
See the relevant service for details of where the referral must be sent.
Find a service
You have the right to choose the treatment centre where your planned medical assessment or treatment will be carried out. The treatments that are available are provided by the hospitals and some private providers.
See more information about the Health and Work service in each health region (in Norwegian):