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Work Rehabilitation
Occupational Therapy Services in Work Rehabilitation: Work Hardening/Work Conditioning
Work rehabilitation is a structured program of graded physical conditioning/strengthening exercises and functional tasks in conjunction with real or simulated job activities. Treatment is designed to improve the individual's cardiopulmonary, neuron musculoskeletal (strength, endurance, movement, flexibility, stability, and motor control) functions, biomechanical/human performance levels, and psychosocial aspects as they relate to the demands of work.
Occupational therapists use work-related activities in the assessment, treatment, and management of individuals whose ability to function in a work environment has been impaired by physical, emotional, or developmental illness or injury.
Work rehabilitation provides a transition between acute care and return to work while addressing the issues of safety, physical tolerances, work behaviors, and functional abilities.
What Are the Benefits of Work Rehabilitation?
- Injured individuals return more quickly and safely to employment with greater physical endurance/human performance levels and ability to meet and perform the job requirements.
- Injured individuals gain a clear knowledge of their capabilities and prepare them for reentry into the community and work force.
- Employers receive assurance that the employee is physically competent to perform the essential functions of the job and has the necessary work readiness skills. The employer may realize a reduction in lost work days, lost productivity, workers' compensation claims and associated costs.
- Insurance carriers receive rapid case resolution and a decrease in the administrative costs of case management.
- Physicians receive objective documentation of physical abilities on which to base return to work clearance, impairment rating or disability determination.
- Rehabilitation case managers gain a clearer picture of the individual's physical capacities, which aids in focused program planning and vocational exploration.
Who Should Be Referred for Work Rehabilitation?
- Individuals whose physical or behavioral tolerances interfere in return to work.
- Individuals who require modifications and/or reasonable accommodations to maximize safe and functional return to work following an illness or injury.
- Individuals who seek to re-enter the job market but require assistance in overcoming physical or behavioral barriers.
- Individuals who need to document their physical capabilities to perform specific job demands.
What Are the Goals of Work Rehabilitation?
- To insure a smooth, rapid, safe transition into the work force
- To develop physical tolerance for work, including flexibility, strength, and endurance
- To develop safe job performance to prevent re-injury
- To develop and reinforce appropriate work behaviors
- To provide data concerning a worker's physical and psychological tolerances that are essential to the vocational planning process
- To determine if tool or job site modifications, ergonomics, or assistive technology will remove barriers to return to work
- To promote patient responsibility and self-management
Where is Work Rehabilitation Provided?
- Industry (at the job-site)
- Community based health centers
- Outpatient rehabilitation facilities
- Individual or group practices
- Hospital based programs
Who Pays for Work Rehabilitation?
- Workers' compensation insurance plans
- Self-insured employers
- Individual insurance plans
- State and/or local agencies
- Managed care plans
What Specialized Education and Experience Do Occupational Therapy Practitioners Bring to Work Rehabilitation?
- Occupational therapists hold bachelor's or master's degrees and occupational therapy assistants have associate degrees. Occupational therapy practitioners must complete supervised clinical internships in a variety of health care settings and are required to pass a national certification examination. Individual states also regulate occupational therapy practice. Occupational therapy education includes the study of human growth and development with specific emphasis on the social, emotional, and physiological implications of illness and injury.
- Occupational therapy practitioners are also skilled in developing and guiding a job-specific program of graded activity for the individual, job task analysis, and job station and tool modification, and in identifying and remediating behaviors inappropriate to the work environment.
- Occupational therapy practitioners use their knowledge of the structure and function of the human body, the effects of illness and injury, and the components of activity to increase the individual's involvement in productive activity and safe practices
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