Services for Insurance Providers

Harbourside Rehabilitation Solutions offers mental health counselling to our clients. Our Consultants can provide guidance in the areas of stress management strategies, activity scheduling, relaxation and socialization. The services can be delivered one-on-one or in a group setting. The one-on-one service is beneficial for increasing the daily function and activity level of clients with a variety of mental health issues including depression, anxiety, stress-related illness and individuals with other mental health disorders. Group settings can be brought to the workplace with a goal of decreasing illness or lost time at work due to mental health issues.

Clients living with ongoing pain often avoid activities due to fear of increasing their pain. Pain Management Counselling is offered by occupational therapists who have experience working with clients with ongoing pain. With the goal of increasing a person’s activity level, this service begins with an initial pain management assessment that includes obtaining an individual’s pain history, the person’s understanding of their pain and screening for other contributing factors such as depression and post traumatic stress disorder. The occupational therapist will then make recommendations for appropriate interventions that may include:
• Further occupational therapy sessions aimed at increasing a person’s functional and activity level as well as educating the individual on different coping strategies.
• Participation in the ten week Progressive Goal Attainment Program (PGAP), which is a structured program designed to increase a person’s activity level.
• A referral to a psychologist if cognitive issues need to be addressed in greater depth.
• A referral to another health professional, such as a physiotherapist, if further physical rehabilitation is warranted.

An employee’s work methods or workstation set-up can often be a contributor to pain or discomfort. An ergonomic assessment could mean the difference between having an employee at work – or having an employee on disability. When conducting an ergonomic assessment, our goals are to keep an employee on the job by decreasing their discomfort, improve an employee’s productivity and/or bring an employee back to the workplace with a reduced risk of re-injury or strain through ergonomic enhancements or adjustments in their work methods or workstation.

We also conduct ergonomic and workstation assessments for employees not experiencing discomfort using a pro-active approach to prevent employee discomfort related to workstation arrangement. Our Consultants have also conducted ergonomic education sessions to groups of employees and we have provided training sessions to companies on how to ensure ergonomic principles are implemented in basic office workstations.

This is an essential tool for the return to work process as it is used to match a person’s functional abilities for a specific position. It includes an objective analysis of the essential job tasks. The report is based on observations of the worksite, other employees performing the duties as well as interviews with the injured/disabled worker and/or supervisor. A JSA includes either a physical demands analysis of the employee’s position or a cognitive demands analysis or both. Recommendations from the report can include further rehabilitation recommendations with specific intervention or treatment providers, or workplace accommodations for the employee.

Sometimes employees are not able to return to their original occupation after injury or disability. A TSA assessment can help identify potential occupations based on the employee’s training, vocational experience and education. The analysis is based on the Canadian National Occupational Classification of Occupations (NOC) and is, therefore, non-biased and helps identify potentially appropriate occupations. All TSA assessments are conducted by a registered Occupational Therapist (OT) who has been trained by a Rehabilitation Specialist with extensive experience critiquing TSA reports for legal purposes. Any identified occupations have been manually selected by the OT specifically for the employee.

Harbourside Rehab is pleased to provide Metriks one or two day Functional Capacity Evaluations (FCE’s). An FCE is an objective measurement of an individuals’ current physical abilities and limitations, workday tolerance and overall degree of strenuousness. They are conducted by a registered Occupational Therapist.

Harbourside uses a battery of standardized and non-standardized assessment tools to objectively measure an individual’s cognitive functional ability in the context or real life activities. It assesses cognitive strengths and weaknesses and is not diagnostic in nature.

A Functional Cognitive Screen can be useful in determining if the individual has cognitive deficits and the impact those  deficits have on function. This information can then be used to guide occupational therapy intervention to develop compensatory and remedial strategies to improve function.

The results of the Cognitive Functional Screen can also be used to assess the individuals cognitive ability to work and is beneficial in the return to work planning or accommodations process.

Our Cognitive Functional Assessment can be tailored to assess the capacity to meet the cognitive demands of a specific role in combination with a Cognitive Demands Analysis.

Cognitive Rehabilitation/Concussion Management Services including Functional Cognitive Screening and Services for Clients with Traumatic Brain Injuries

Our therapists offer a variety of services aimed at addressing the cognitive, emotional and behavioural issues often experienced after injuries such traumatic brain injuries or with conditions such as strokes or mental health issues. Our services include:
• Cognitive screening using a functional approach
• Provision of rehabilitation services including memory compensation strategies
• Assessment of care/equipment needs
• Attendant training
• Coordination of ongoing rehabilitation
• Vocational counselling

Our Consultants assist clients to become more employable by helping the client to identify occupational options and effective job search strategies as well as prepare resumes and cover letters. This is particularly effective when a client no longer has a job in which to return such as from downsizing, or the client is unable to return to their own occupation due to injury or illness.

Studies have shown that companies who use disability management consulting services are three times more successful in returning employees back to the workplace following injury or illness (Watson Wyatt Work Study). Our goal is the same as yours — to get injured or ill employees healthy and back to the workplace while ensuring they receive the most appropriate and cost-effective treatment methods available.

We meet with the employee’s treatment providers to coordinate treatment plans that help meet our shared goal. Case Management/Disability Management Counsulting helps to enhance your cost management while offering the support and encouragement employees need to increase their potential for recovery and return to work.

When an employee is ready to return to work, we develop a return to work plan which is supported by the employee, employer and the employee’s treating Physician. We monitor the employee on a regular basis and maintain contact with the employer during the return to work program to ensure success.