Visualise assembling an intricate gadget without a full set of instructions, or building a house with half a blueprint! Just like these scenarios, we understand that as an OT or Rehab Provider, designing a comprehensive rehabilitation or return-to-work plan without all the necessary details is equally challenging.
We understand the unique challenges you face. Pause for a moment and take comfort in knowing that you’re supported by a team that understands, some of whom have even been in your shoes!
Our Unique Edge
The frustration of piecing together scant information, coordinating with various health professionals, the client, and their workplace, is a challenge we’re intimately familiar with. Our Director, Brad Domek, experienced these frustrations firsthand during his 8 years in the trenches as a Rehab Provider.
Brad’s journey led to the creation of Specialised Health, born from a desire to address the gap in functional, practical information available to rehab providers. Our mission is clear: to serve you with insights and support tailored specifically to your needs.
Bridging the Gap Between Task and Ability
Our strategy focuses on identifying and overcoming the barriers preventing an individual from returning to work. We aim to understand the specific functional requirements of their job and develop targeted strategies to close the gap between their current capabilities and the tasks at hand.
Whether it’s assessing if a client can lift and hold their equipment appropriately for their role, or designing an exercise for a warehouse worker to manage repetitive lifting tasks, our approach is about practical, task-specific solutions. Every interaction with a client offers insights into their capacity, acting as an ongoing assessment to inform our tailored exercise prescriptions.
Our Role = Simplifying Your Role
Our commitment to making your job easier is unwavering. We prioritise clear, effective communication, delivering fortnightly updates in plain english on your client’s progress. This ensures that work capacity statements and your return to work plans can always be up to date with current abilities.
By focusing on simplification and transparency, we aim to remove the guesswork, providing you with clear, actionable insights that empower you to support your clients effectively. To prove it, here’s an example of what our fortnightly updates look like:
“Dear Mr/ Mrs Insurer and Mr/ Mrs RP
Please see an update below regarding Mr Smith, who is now 4-weeks into his 8-week EP program.
Over the past fortnight, Mr Smith’s attendance has been perfect and as a result he has been able to demonstrate a significant increase in some key work related tasks such as his overhead reaching ability and carrying capacity. Pleasingly he has also achieved a considerable increase in his reported confidence when completing tasks around home, such as hanging out the washing. He reports to be compliant with his independent exercise sessions and has commented that he has not needed to take any pain medication on 3 days this week, which is great news!
Goals of Program
Return to pre-disability hours (40hrs/week) as a self employed Electrician.
Progress Towards Goals – Outcome Measures:
- Increase overhead lifting capacity to 5 kg (Expected achievement date 31/08/23)
- Hang out the washing independently (Achieved)
- Return to suitable duties completing 20hrs per week of work (Achieved)
Demonstrated Function (improvements in bold)
- Overhead Reaching – able to be sustained for 2min at a time
- Waist height carrying – 10kg carried for 3 minutes
- Waist to shoulder lifting – 5kg lifted for 30 repetitions
- Shoulder to overhead lifting – 3kg lifted overhead for 30 repetitions
- Nil concerns with general postures including sitting, standing, walking and squatting.
Reported Issues/Barriers
- Continued pain in the left shoulder with loaded overhead movements, however, management strategies provided by this service are proving very effective thus far.
Plan
- Add further 2kg to overhead lift, achieving the goal of 5kg, in 2 weeks
- Provide final progression in shoulder stability program to ensure self-management after discharge in 4 weeks.
Current Work Capacity
From Mr Smith’s performance during supervised sessions with Specialised Health, he is deemed fit to undertake full-time duties, provided that the following modifications are adhered to for a further 2 weeks:
- Lifting objects of up to 5kg below shoulder height only
- Lifting objects of up to 3kg overhead
- Carrying items of up to 10kg for up to 3 minutes per hour
Negotiating With The GP
Negotiating certification upgrades with the GP is much more straightforward with relevant, functional information on hand. You can simply bring one of our fortnightly updates with you when you next go to visit the GP, or why not get us to tag along with you? Our EP’s are more than happy to attend and help you to get that seal of approval from the GP.
Ahh, sigh of relief… You can build your house after all!
Would you like us to help make your job easier?
Refer to the Specialised Health team!
Author: Tessa Nielsen
Clinical Exercise Physiologist and
Content Creator at Specialised Health
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