Towards Work: Early vocational rehabilitation after traumatic injury

Traumatic injuries, including traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, multi-trauma orthopaedic (MTO) injury and limb amputation present challenges for returning to work. Recovery can be lengthy and difficult due to a range of temporary or lasting physical, cognitive and psychological impacts.

The Monash-Epworth Rehabilitation Research Centre (MERRC) was commissioned by the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) to pilot and evaluate an early intervention vocational rehabilitation service to individuals following major traumatic injuries.

The study results demonstrated significant value in providing early vocational rehabilitation within a multidisciplinary rehabilitation program in both inpatient and outpatient settings to enable close team liaison and introduce a positive focus on employment early in the rehabilitation journey. In particular early engagement can result in an earlier return to work and bring significant mental health gains.

As specialised knowledge is important for this service, an intervention manual has been developed as part of the study to provide resources and support to guide clinicians in the delivery of Early Vocational Rehabilitation.

The manual includes:

• a model for achieving a return to meaningful employment following traumatic injury
• a clinical pathway to guide the activities of the therapist through the vocational rehabilitation process in the context of a multi-disciplinary team
• the application of the clinical pathway across the main injury diagnoses, including specific and common interventions relevant to each phase of the return-to-work journey, and
• four client handouts and three clinician resources, which are also provided separately from the manual for clinicians to use either as a fillable version or a version to print.

Resources