Like talking about religion and sex, talking about money seems to also be a taboo that we have when working with clients who are returning to work following an injury, illness or trauma. And I understand why we don’t. For a long time, we’ve been instructed not to speak to clients about how money works - how their money works in relation to the benefits and or claims that they’re receiving. And that's appropriate - because we’re not claims assessors or claims managers, and if we get this … [Read more...]

So... Why is faith and religion important in return to work planning? Like sex and money, religion is one of those topics that we often find weird to discuss. Maybe even intrusive, uncomfortable or crossing boundaries. Plus - we’re scared to offend and disrespect our clients. But what I’ve learned is that for a quite a lot of clients, their faith and their faith community is a really big part of their life. I’ve worked with gentleman who had very strong ties to the Islamic community, and … [Read more...]

I can’t tell you how many times a client's return to work progress has been interrupted because I haven’t addressed some of the key issues that go on for people when they’re participating in rehab. Sometimes, these issues are uncomfortable. Murky, too - is this even something we're supposed to be talking about? Is it ethical to talk about something like sex with our clients? Sex, money and religion come up more often than we’d like to give it credit for. People who are unwell or injured … [Read more...]