Return-to-Work

Rehabilitation following spinal cord injury (SCI) recognises the importance of returning to work and the essential role employment plays in participation within a community.

Martin had been a motorcycle enthusiast for most of his young adult life. Despite the risks, he had been both skillful and fortunate in avoiding accidents...until one mid-summer day when Martin was involved in a motorcycle collision. It was a devastating accident that he luckily survived.

As with every Rehab-Cycle^®, an assessment that took into account the perspectives of both Martin (the patient perspective) and his rehabilitation team (the health professional perspective) was performed. For a clearer picture, the assessment also took into consideration the outcome and experience of the vocational rehabilitation (VR) process in the prior weeks.

Having a comprehensive overview of Martin's functioning based on the rehabilitation team's assessment and Martin's own statements about his situation helped the rehabilitation team to identify intervention targets and concrete goals to achieve during the Rehab-Cycle^®, including those related to work.

Every intervention target that was determined during the assessment phase of the Rehab-Cycle^® was addressed by specific interventions allocated to corresponding members of the rehabilitation team during the assignment phase of the Rehab-Cycle^®.

Two months after the intervention phase started in this Rehab-Cycle^®, an evaluation of Martin's progress in the designated intervention targets revealed that he had made significant progress in multiple areas.

At the end of rehabilitation I really made some big gains – independence in using the wheelchair, better self-care and being able to position my body...I also hope to get a car and be able to drive. The most important thing for me is to be able to work once I’m discharged. The support I’ve received [from the vocational rehabilitation counsellor] has been a tremendous help. I’m now even thinking of asking my old boss at the moving company if there is work that I could do there.

Martin, reflecting on his progress and his future

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