[No CEs] As Vocational Counselors and Rehabilitation Case Managers you are often faced with claims that seem to go on forever. Claimants go to physical or occupational therapy for months, reach MMI according to the doctor, have a 3-4 hour functional capacity evaluation yet remain on comp. Physiologically we know that a healthy individual, who becomes sedentary, will physiologically deteriorate in a rather quick period of time. This is no different for the injured worker. If after 4-6 months of a sedentary existence (with the exception of the 1 hour of therapy 3 days a week) the individual’s problems were mysteriously resolved, the physiological issues associated with inactivity will remain (and have gotten worse).

The participants will develop a good understanding of the necessity of the work conditioning and work hardening components as well as focus on what constitutes a defensible functional capacity evaluation.

Objectives

1. Describe how physiologically a healthy individual with deteriorate when he/she becomes inactive
2. List the essential qualiities and expected outcomes of a work conditioning, work hardening program
3. Describe the value of a true functional capacity evaluation
4. Identify necessary components of a defensible functional capacity evaluation

Speaker
Paul Fontana, BSOT

Here's what attendees said...
"Great information related to physical dysfunction and how to evaluate."
"INTERESTING. Speaker gave perspective of lengthy FCE.
"Engaging speaker - valuable information for my practice."