Part III: Occupational Disability Determination/Rehabilitation Best Practices and the Role of Situational Work...

This is the final in a series of three papers addressing common occupational disability entitlements from an Ontario motor vehicle accident (MVA) perspective, which are also applicable to long-term disability cases. The first paper supported using a holistic model in the assessment of accident injured persons who are unable to return to the pre-accident occupation (pre- 104 disability/"own occupation") because of accident-caused impairments. The second paper discussed case law, best practice and the Post-104 Week IRB Disability ("any occupation") test and demonstrated the difficulties individuals face when they are unable to return to work in the aftermath of a debilitating motor vehicle accident. In this third and final paper, the purposes and roles of the Situational Work Assessment and Simulated Work/Academic Trials are critically evaluated in the occupational disability context. These methodologies are used to determine an individual's capacity to competitively meet the physical, cognitive and interpersonal/behavioural demands of his or her pre-condition occupation, or any occupation for which he or she is suited by education, training or experience, thereby addressing entitlement to income replacement benefits (IRB). It is vital that occupational disability assessments are comprehensive, holistic, include an undestanding of the synergistic impact of the impairment on the individual's physical, cognitive and psychosocial work capacities, and are conducted through multi-modal means. To conclude, the overriding principles and themes of all three articles are synthesized.