Bridging the gap: Hospital to workplace

Work-oriented neurorehabilitation to return to competitive employment after a serious neurologic illness or injury is an interdisciplinary process that begins as soon as pathology has stabilized.

This bimonthly column provides narratives of anonymized clients in situations that challenge their return-to-work. Each case study is designed for postgraduate education about tools and methods that are appropriate to consider in similar situations.

Through case studies of adults attempting to return to safe and dependable competitive employment, real-world issues are explored that occur at the interface between the client and their employer.

The current case describes Structured Task Self Appraisal (STSA), a forensic rehabilitation method to collect self-report baseline information concerning the client's job-relevant functional limitations. STSA guides return-to-work rehabilitation services.

Information concerning the core tasks and important abilities of the client's target occupation that are immediately available in O*NET can be analyzed in a structured manner to provide the workplace context for rehabilitation.