In today's Rehab Strikes Back episode, I'm talking about how we can help our clients realistically assess their progress as they recover... because it's often the case that without our help, our clients tend to overlook just how far they've come. I also speak about what it takes to help our clients set achievable and realistic goals - because often our definition of "realistic and achievable" is very different to how our clients think about progress. Here's how I recommend we get on the same … [Read more...]
Purple Co Success Story — When Rehab Gets You Back On Track
We're really excited to share a client success story today - and we hope that this article also serves as a bit of a case study into what can happen when rehab is engaged to get all of the stakeholders involved, communicating and moving towards a common goal. Steve* came to us with a really, really bad infection on his foot. This would impact on anyone's ability to work, but this was especially bad for Steve because he was a delivery driver. Feet are pretty important when it comes to driving. … [Read more...]
How to Successfully Lead Your Next Case Conference
Welcome to part 3 of our series on case conferencing in Rehab and Return to Work. We’ve already explored what a good case conference is and how to set an agenda, so let’s wrap up this series and talk about how to successfully run a case conference on the day. Let’s talk logistics, shall we? 1. I always start with who is paying. Medical centres, medical practitioners and specialists all like to know how they're going to get paid. I'm very clear from the beginning on who's going to pay and … [Read more...]
Case Conferencing in Rehab: Good, Bad or Ugly?
Question: have you ever been asked, demanded, or been cajoled into organizing and facilitating a case conference? I know I have. Over the last few years I’ve been an advocate for how powerful case conferences can be, but lately I’m noticing that rehab professionals, clients, GPs and lots of other health professionals are expressing that they feel bullied and harassed by the demanding nature of a case conference. So what’s going on here? Why is it that something that is such a powerful tool … [Read more...]
What Does a Successful Case Conference Look Like?
Case conferencing is a central part of our role as Rehabilitation Professionals. I wanted to dedicate some time to explore the how, what and why of case conferencing, because effective case conferences can mean huge progress for us and our clients. And bad ones... well, they can really set us back. Part 1: The What Most of us are familiar with the GP case conference. This is a meeting that typically happens between a rehab consultant, the client and their treating doctor (although other … [Read more...]
The Chronic Fatigue Crash Course
More and more of our clients are coming to us with chronic fatigue conditions. Conditions like: Post-Cancer Fatigue Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Parkinson's Multiple Sclerosis ... and many more. Working with a client with fatigue requires a different approach - typically it's a REALLY bad idea to start talking to your client about capacity upgrades and vocational goals when they're worried about whether they'll ever be able to spend time with their family again.... or whether they … [Read more...]
Job Seeking & Rehab – Where Are We Going Wrong?
Why is job search so fraught with difficulty in the return to work and rehabilitation space? I've been working in the return to work and rehabilitation space for some 20 years and it's always been the same. There appears to be this incredible reluctance, resistance and, at times, avoidance of actual job seeking activity. However... it might surprise you that this is not just from clients, this is also from the rehabilitation consultants supporting their clients! I think it's time we … [Read more...]
Rehab Taboos Part 3: Let’s Talk MONEY
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...]
Rehab Taboos Part 2: Religion & Faith
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...]
Rehab Taboos Part 1: Can We Talk About Sex?
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...]