Occupational therapy is a creative therapeutic activity that is prescribed for its effect in promoting recovery or rehabilitation after injuries, traumas, neurological diseases, or circulatory events (such as stroke). This treatment utilizes activities that promote mobility, dexterity, strength, endurance, appropriate muscle function and control, and overall functional capacity. Individuals who have been injured in the course of their employment may benefit from specific industrial rehabilitation that can enhance their ability to perform their job requirements or improve their workstation and its ergonomic use. Should the injury or condition respond poorly to such care, a functional capacity evaluation (FCE) may help determine the patient's capabilities, in order to locate the best employment possibility, and the appropriate disability rating/certification. This is done to assist the referring chiropractic or medical physician in their evaluation of the patient's disability and workability. Specifically, we offer the following services:

Functional Capacity Evaluation (FCE)

• An evaluation process for observing, analyzing, measuring, and recording the physical capacities of an injured worker to perform a variety of job-related functions.
• Helps to determine whether employees can perform the essential functions of their own jobs or what their true capabilities are for any occupation. The FCE also addresses psychological/social issues and identifies individual's pain and disability perception.
• Most functional capacity evaluations measure the physical capacity of an injured worker in one or all of the following categories:
  • Strength (lifting, carrying, pulling, pushing, gripping, pinching).
  • Tolerance (sitting, standing, completing a workday, upper-extremity tolerance of repetition, frequency or duration of time spent on an activity).
  • Posture and mobility (walking, balance, bending, reaching, squatting, stooping, crawling, kneeling, repetitive motions).
  • Level of participation (full participation, conscious manipulation, self-limiting abilities).
  • Transferability and comparison of evaluation results with specific job duties.
• Performed in a therapeutically monitored and safe environment.
• Who benefits from the services provided by a functional capacity evaluator?
  • Physicians - Provides physicians with data for identifying a patient's disability rating and also aids in prescribing appropriate treatment.
  • Insurance carriers - Provides insurance companies with the necessary objective information needed for a decision on initial approval or continuation of disability benefits.
  • Attorneys - Furnishes attorneys involved in personal injury litigation a clear definition of a client's ability to function normally.
  • Employees / Workers - For the employee participating, the FCE should provide invaluable and educational information about his or her own capabilities.

Work Hardening / Work Conditioning

• A goal-oriented, individualized treatment program designed to maximize the person's ability to return to work.
• Encompasses conditioning tasks that are used to improve biomechanical, neuromuscular, cardiovascular and metabolic functions of an individual, in conjunction with real or simulated work activities.
• The clients who benefit from this type of programming are those who are seriously deconditioned after impairment caused by an injury or disease and those who have major discrepancies between their symptoms and objective findings.

Work Site Assessment

• Work site assessments are done to determine whether a person with a disability can return to his/her previous position or apply for a particular new job.
• During the assessment, a clinical evaluation of the client's abilities and physical status are compared with the physical demands of the job.
• After conducting a work site assessment, recommendations can be made regarding reasonable accommodation; proper postures and procedures; and job or tool modifications.