Ask a Claims Expert – Rehabilitation Programs

Q) As a recent newcomer to the adjudication world, I would appreciate if you could share any advice you may have with respect to when you should request and/or initiate a Rehabilitation program.

Answer from ELAINE HOBBS, CCRC, President of Hobbsability:
Qualified vocational rehabilitation counsellors use established protocols and procedures to help their clients return-to-work. We always start with attempting to return clients to work with their pre-disability employers. If this is not an option, the counsellor then looks at helping clients return-to-work with new employers: working closely with the clients to help them see the skills and interests they have to offer new employers, combined with adjustment and vocational counselling.

Most insurance clients are able to return-to-work without rehabilitation intervention. As a society, most of us identify ourselves and others by our work. Not only does work provide money to pay the bills, but it also provides us with routine, identity, social relationships, and purpose. That said, most of us want to return to work following injury or illness, and most of us have the supports necessary to do so. But not all of us…

When rehabilitation intervention is required, we need to understand that it is not always the impairment that is preventing the client from resuming work: it is often the other “things” that the client used to be able to cope with before the injury or illness. The impairment becomes the straw that broke the camel’s back. The role of the rehabilitation counsellor is to help the client identify those ‘other’ factors, so that the barriers can be removed, and clients can get on with life, and work. In the absence of complex formulas involving recovery times, red flags, diagnoses, and educational and work histories, the best that I can do to advise you when to initiate vocational rehabilitation, is to share with you some of the questions I consider when reviewing files for intervention:

1. Does it appear that the client can easily return-to work of his/her own accord?
2. Are there straightforward diagnosis and treatment, clear recovery times and prognoses?
3. Has the client expressed his/her realistic thoughts on when/how to return-to-work
4. Has the employer demonstrated a willingness to return the client to work?
5. Is there a clear time frame for return-to-work? If the answers to these questions are no, then now is a good time to initiate rehabilitation… the earlier the intervention, the better the rehabilitation outcomes.

Waiting until a client achieves maximum medical recovery rarely serves anyone’s best interests: by then, the client has thoroughly adapted to a disabled lifestyle, and is likely so far removed from the workplace, that he/she now fears a returnto work. Qualified vocational rehabilitation counsellors will help the client plan for a return-to-work, while he/she undergoes treatment and medical investigation. The rehabilitation counsellor can help the client identify the barriers to return-to-work, so that the barriers are removed, and return-to-work negotiations can commence at the earliest opportunity. Counsellors will also commence alternative vocational planning in more difficult situations: working with the clients to identify suitable, sustainable and realistic vocational options, in case they cannot return-to-work with the pre-disability employer, at the appropriate time.

Losing your job is frightening. Losing your job when you have a physical or mental health impairment is all the much more difficult. Not only do you no longer have a routine, a coworker network, a paycheque, autonomy, etc., but you also have to compete against ‘able-bodied’ candidates for new work, while living with pain, function loss, and/or fear of relapse. Vocational Rehabilitation Counsellors support clients through these difficult times, enabling them to resume function and work.

Elaine is the President and inspiration behind hobbsability Vocational Rehabilitation Services. Led by Elaine, hobbsability brings together a skilled group of highly trained and experienced professionals covering all relevant sectors of the vocational rehabilitation profession.A Canadian Certified Rehabilitation Counsellor (CCRC), Elaine founded hobbsability to provide rehabilitation services that are professional, unbiased and well – real. Elaine has served as Director of the Vocational Rehabilitation Association of Canada and as President of the Ontario Society. She acted on the Ontario Ministry of Finance Task Force on Accreditation, and has taught vocational rehabilitation and counselling courses for Seneca College. Servicing clients throughout Canada, all hobbsability professionals bring their real life experience, understanding and commitment to their clients, accounts and the company vision. hobbsability believes that in the real world, rehabilitation must honour each client’s unique circumstances. It is a vision that leads to credentialed expertise for lawyers, cost savings for insurers and employers, and realistic, sustainable return-to-work and function for clients. For more information on hobbsability visit their website www.hobbsability.ca