People Connected To Purpose
Over the past 9 months we have been keeping busy with an incredible range of clients. We reported on our outcomes and the value we bring to the industry back in March, and I thought it was timely to update us all on what we have been focused on and how we have been making a difference to the lives of our clients. Over the past 3 months we have helped people living with: Mood disorders Undifferentiated Connective Tissue Disease, Fibromyalgia & Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Multiple … [Read more...]
‘Planning is everything. Plans are nothing’ Field Marshal Helmuth Graf von Moltke Action Plans, Rehab plans, RTW plans, prevocational plans, independent living plans, socialisation plans, living skills plans - the world of recovery rehabilitation and RTW is a planning nation. Who doesn't love a good plan? Estimating and planning are crucial to recovery and RTW success. How else do we take all the “needs” of all the “players” and help the client arrive at the end goal - the goal that meets … [Read more...]
At Purple Co, we are often sent referral requests to “engage” a client in recovery, rehabilitation and RTW. Now, most of us hear that phrase and think – OK this means the client isn’t engaged, and that can mean a couple of things: - The client is resistant to being engaged. - The client is going to be difficult. - The client has no understanding of what rehabilitation can offer. When the referral is coming from an insurer, an employer or a regulatory authority … [Read more...]
Having delivered training to Rehabilitation Consultants in this industry for many years, I continue to be amazed at the seemingly simple things that get missed in the pursuit of doing the job at hand. One of those things that appears to get missed is actually understanding the referral and what's really being asked of us as consultants. Things like... · Why is this person being referred? · What does this person know about why they are being referred? · What has … [Read more...]
I have recently finished working with a rehabilitation client. After 2 years of sickness and fatigue she is now back at work in a variety of freelance capacities. However, when she first came to me, she was fraught with difficulties: she had very little understanding of her conditions, of her functional capacity and seemed unwilling to accept that she had a 2 year benefit period that was fast approaching its end. We had a musculoskeletal diagnosis, a mental health diagnosis and a fatigue … [Read more...]
What is Good Rehab? Where does Good Rehab start and who is responsible for Good Rehab? I am sure that these are questions many rehabilitation professionals have been pondering since time began. How do we know if Rehab is Good? We all know that Rehab and RTW - with the way it currently looks today, with how it so often operates in it's own silo - isn't working. We have so much evidence telling us that a truly integrated approach to recovery rehabilitation and rehabilitation is … [Read more...]
Good Rehabilitation (recovery and RTW) is about knowing the right thing to do at the right time. Good rehabilitation professionals will step outside of the “process” and help the key influencers understand what the right step is, at the right time. When coupled with collaboration and accountability this is when Good Rehabilitation becomes powerful and transformative. Let me explain what I mean by the right thing at the right time... Melissa (not her real name) was in the final 4 months … [Read more...]
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...]
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...]
Rest. We all need to rest. Our brains need to rest, our bodies need to rest and at times I think our emotions need a break, too! What’s been really interesting for me, in developing our fatigue management program, is helping clients understand the different types of rest available to them and how to use rest to more effectively manage their energy. All too often, our clients are given recommendations by well meaning health professionals who say that the answer to fatigue is more … [Read more...]
