Potential Impact on Return to Work (RTW)

A. RTW - Cognitive rehab can increase client's skills to a level in which he is confident and competent. Most clients have a more successful return to work by having a job coach that is also a cognitive rehabilitation therapist. The therapist can observe work conditions for avoiding problems for the client in the future and in transferring skills learned to the job site.

1. remediate and/or compensate for cognitive deficits that would otherwise make RTW improbable
2. client can transfer strategies learned in therapy to situations at work for learning new information, self monitoring/management, and solving problems.
3. client can learn new job skills if previous job is inappropriate for current level of functioning by using memory training
4. therapist can do the job coaching to assure the transfer of strategies learned in therapy to the job in a variety of unexpected situations.
5. therapist can educate employer about how to effectively accommodate needs of client to facilitate successful return to work.

B. Vocational Planning - Cognitive rehabilitation can identify deficits in cognition that may target or rule out types of work and/or dentify reasonable accommodations for current job.

1. The cognitive therapist can interact with the employer to educate the employer on the nature of head injury to dispel myths about TBI and to elicit the help of the employer. On some occasions, it is beneficial to also educate the co-workers.
2. Cognitive therapist can assure the specificity of on the job training and develop specific strategies to increase the probability of job maintenance.
3. Other complicating factors to RTW with cognitive deficits are age, education, vocational history, and adjustment to remaining deficits.

Disclaimer: The information posted on this web site is not medical advice and should not be taken as medical advice. Information posted on this web site is for information purposes only. To obtain medical advice, please consult with your physician or schedule an appointment where a complete, detailed history of your specific case may be obtained.