By: Scott Jones MSPT, CSCS, MDT, CAFS
In the world of workers’ compensation rehabilitation, a strong work conditioning program is a crucial tool for facilitating recovery and restoring functional abilities for a specific population of the injured work force. A solid work conditioning program is strategically designed to bridge the gap between traditional physical and occupational therapy and a safe return to a physically demanding job. Work conditioning offers a myriad of benefits that foster both physical and mental well-being while optimizing productivity and efficiency with returning to full duty work.
What is work conditioning?
While physical therapy & occupational therapy focus on treating a specific injury, tissue, or condition, work conditioning is specifically designed for injured workers. It is a more intense, functional, total body strength and conditioning program designed to simulate work tasks. Work conditioning helps the worker regain their strength, endurance, and functional abilities necessary to perform the positional tolerances and material handling requirements of their job.
With traditional therapy, once the patient is able to perform their normal activities of daily living such as safely walking, standing, and ascending/descending stairs, further therapy is no longer considered medically necessary by most commercial insurances. In workers compensation, the goal is to return the patient to their pre-injury level of function related to their full duty work demands. This level of function is most accurately determined by a thorough job analysis or job description with the essential physical demands of the position clearly defined. Where traditional physical and occupational therapy programs see the patient for approximately 1 hour per day, 2-3 days/week, work conditioning programs often treat the patient for up to 4 hours per day and 5 days per week.
Who is appropriate for work conditioning?
Injured workers who have a physically demanding job are more appropriate for participation in work conditioning. A job that regularly requires repetitive lifting, pushing, or pulling activities at high frequencies or with heavier loads, such as 50 lbs or greater, would benefit from the transition to a work conditioning program. The cardiovascular conditioning, endurance, and strength requirements of these types of positions are difficult to simulate in the traditional 1 hour/day, 3 days per week, physical and occupational therapy programs. Positions such as firefighters/paramedics, police officers, nurses, warehouse workers, delivery drivers and dock workers, truck drivers, and airline workers are just some examples of professions that benefit from work conditioning. Patients that are post-surgical or have been off work for an extended period of time would also benefit from a work conditioning program. In these situations, a lack of activity results in the worker’s injured body part as well as their entire body becoming deconditioned, putting them at a higher risk for reinjury.
What are some of the biggest benefits associated with work conditioning?
Personal Rehabilitation Plan:
Work conditioning programs typically work from a base structure with portions of the program modified to the individual patient’s injury, job demands, and return to work goals. Unlike traditional rehabilitation plans, work conditioning provides the durations needed to simulate the positional tolerances, material handling requirements, and the cardiovascular demands of the patient’s specific position. By gradually increasing workloads and intensity levels, patients build tolerance, adaptability, and stamina for the physical demands of their job.
Restores Work Function:
One of the primary benefits of work conditioning involves improving the overall functional abilities essential for successfully performing the specific job duties of the injured worker. This is accomplished through targeted exercises for the specific deficits demonstrated by the patient, paired with essential work task simulation. Participants simulate real work environments and tasks to practice job-related activities under professional supervision. Education related to addressing demonstrated compensation patterns, proper lifting techniques, optimal movement patterns, and improved ergonomics is a key benefit of work conditioning. Balance, coordination, core strength, muscle endurance, and flexibility are all addressed and necessary for successfully performing a physically demanding position.
Future Injury Prevention and Reduces Re-injury:
Work conditioning continues to incorporate pain management techniques used in physical or occupational therapy, while adding ergonomic education, and activity modification techniques. Education on recognizing the signs of fatigue, compensation, and relevance of minor aches and discomforts during work conditioning creates injury prevention strategies and reduces the risk of re-injury. Addressing underlying musculoskeletal imbalances while teaching proper ergonomics and lifting mechanics, allows the injured worker to return to their full duty work tasks efficiently, safely, and to successfully remain in the position.
Psychosocial Benefits and Work Confidence:
The mental well-being and confidence of an injured worker are often overlooked aspects of a return-to-work program. Work conditioning programs offer psychosocial support, encouragement, and motivation from a licensed rehabilitation expert throughout the program. Peer support from other participants in the program can create a sense of shared experience, alleviating feelings of isolation and apprehension.
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