When a physical or mental health disability strikes an employee, it impacts their life, their employment and, in turn, their financial stability.
The employee’s team and the company’s productivity are also affected, which is why employers are typically on the lookout for ways to ensure their return-to-work programs are effective and focused on what’s best for injured workers.
Workplaces are also faced with increasing pressure to prevent and manage workplace injuries and integrate and accommodate workers with injuries and disabilities. Insurers and case managers are faced with greater complexity and cost and time pressures to manage disability claims and, at the same time, they want to do what is best for their claimant.
What if there was a team of professionals who understood the seriousness of the situation, who met the employee with compassion, who worked closely with employer and insurer to customize a treatment plan to meet the needs of the employee’s case, and who offered work rehabilitation services to put he or she on a path forward to returning to work?
The health professionals at Adaptive Health Care Solutions help provide that answer to patients, their physicians, employers, and insurers who are looking for individualized services that restore health and function and prevent injury, illness and disability.
Adaptive Health offers a straightforward approach to disability management through an independent medical assessment, functional assessment, workplace assessment, occupational rehabilitation, and return-to-work coordination.
Adaptive Health’s Director of Research Fergal O’Hagan says mental health work disability is a particular concern.
“Currently, we are dealing with an increase in work disability and people leaving work due to mental health problems,” says O’Hagan. “People are struggling to keep up with the demands of their work environment. There’s a lot more use of technology, timelines are shorter, tasks are increasing in scope, and there’s more social stress as well.
“Employees who are facing those kinds of challenges wind up struggling to maintain their work life. We can help with that.”
Indeed, the Mental Health Commission of Canada offers a sobering statistic: 70 per cent of disability costs in the workplace are attributed to mental illness, and one-third of short and long-term disability claims are related to mental health problems.
O’Hagan notes that Adaptive Health is the only clinic in the area that focuses on mental health work disability.
Mental health work disability cases, he says, are a real challenge for insurers and employers. Claim costs and time lost are typically twice that of musculoskeletal disability cases (joints, ligaments, muscles, nerves, tendons, and structures that support limbs, neck, and back).
“In these situations, the employer can be at their wits’ end and don’t know what to do or where to start. Sometimes it’s just difficult for them to get a good handle on the problem, so they really appreciate our expertise in that,” says O’Hagan.
The clinic’s programs are designed to focus on work disability, including the physical and psychological symptoms and discomfort that the individual is experiencing, their interaction with their work, how their work is designed, and whether their work can be adapted to make it easier for them to do.
“We’re not just looking at the individual and their pain or their mental health problem. We’re looking at how the individual fits in their work environment and how we can improve that fit. Sometimes that involves eliciting support on the part of the employer such as with accommodation.”
For return-to-work to proceed swiftly and successfully, the claimant, employer, and insurer all need to be on the same page and shift the focus to ability from disability, says O’Hagan.
“We make sure that everybody involved in the work disability situation becomes part of the solution for the worker going back to their job.”
“We provide information to the employer about the worker in terms of the limitations they have, suggesting ways the employer might be able to accommodate,” he explains.
“The insurer is informed on progress and, for the worker, we don’t disclose any sensitive information with regard to their health, and we emphasize and encourage return to work as a positive outcome. Going back to work is part of the rehabilitation process.”
The more collaboration that takes place between an injured worker and their employer, the better the chances the individual is going to get back to work in a productive way.
O’Hagan says that insurers and employers are able to access and refer workers to Adaptive Health’s assessment and treatment programs.
They care for clients who have claims with WSIB, short-and long-term disability insurance, motor vehicle insurance, veteran’s affairs, and extended healthcare benefits.
Adaptive Health also has programs to prevent disability from occurring in the first place. Services range from ergonomics to physical and medical employment screening, to physical and psychological job analysis and work disability reduction education programs.
Adaptive Health Care Solutions is located at 270 Charlotte Street in downtown Peterborough. To inquire about services, call 705-874-1221 or visit www.adaptivehealth.ca for more information.
