My services

This independent assessment is undertaken to assist with the identification of suitable duties and includes:

• Clinical assessment of the individual’s injury, taking into account the available medical evidence and tailored functional assessment to confirm functional work capacity
• Task / Job analysis of the physical and psychological demands 
• Employer education regarding any workplace risks which may impact injury recovery 
• Providing education in safe work practices relevant to their employment and recovery
• Recommendation of appropriate workplace modifications and/or equipment
• Communication with all parties to develop realistic graduated RTW schedules relative to injury recovery timeframes and functional treatment goals
• Tailored reporting – either a brief summary, or full report, including agreed return to work arrangements.

The purpose of the Functional capacity evaluation (FCE) is to provide an independent and objective measure of an individual’s ability to safely perform the physical demands of work.

Innovate Work Health Solutions utilises the highly regarded ErgoScience system (Physical Work Performance Evaluation, PWPE) enabling medicolegal defensibility. ErgoScience is the only system which has been peer-reviewed as being valid and reliable for both the entire test and its individual components.

The results of this assessment can support recommendations relating to:

• The suitability of an individual’s current duties
• Job matching to confirm whether the individual’s physical abilities match the demands of the job they are currently performing or a new job which they are considering
• Graduated return to work to guide work hardening and support a safe return to work process
• Vocational guidance where an individual’s physical abilities can be matched against the requirements of several job options, allowing more appropriate guidance in selecting suitable employment options
• Workplace modifications to assist an individual to maximise their capacity at work.

Activities of Daily Living assessment determines how an individual is functioning in their home environment to make recommendations which aim to maximise their independence, whilst also supporting their recovery.

Innovate Work Health Solutions utilises a ‘forensic’ approach to ADL assessment which enables comparison between an individual’s self-reported level of functioning and clinical observations of their functional abilities.

Recommendations can include:

• Education relating to self-management strategies, symptom-management and pain education to encourage an individual’s gradual resumption of home and community-based activities
• Equipment items which can support the individual to maximise their participation in activities of daily living
• Referral for external support services, for short periods where appropriate, whilst an individual is recovering their independence
• In-home one-on-one instruction for the individual to support their gradual return to independence .

Medicolegal ADL reporting is also available upon request.

Occupational health physiotherapy takes a risk-management approach to injury prevention in line with occupational health and safety laws of the relevant jurisdiction. 

Employers who understand that focussed early intervention programs help drive a positive workplace health and safety culture could benefit from Innovate Work Health Solutions’:

• WH&S services including hazard identification, risk assessment and manual task training.
• Ergonomic and work design review prior to the implementation of new work processes to enable early identification of potential workplace risk factors and develop cost-effective, tailored hazard control strategies including relevant workforce training.
• Advice for ‘tail claims’ and long-term injury claims where an individual’s permanent restrictions and/or physical deconditioning are impacting business needs.
• Job dictionary / Job analysis
• Physiotherapy and RTW assessments for ‘stuck’ or complex injury claims
• Fitness for Duty assessments prior to employment (pre-employment) or post-injury recovery to confirm that an individual’s physical capacity matches the physical demands of their work duties.

Fitness Upgrade assessment and Fitness Upgrade programs are delivered with the goal of assisting the injured worker to upgrade their work capacity in preparation for gaining suitable employment with their pre-injury employer OR a new employer.

Tailored FFW services include:

• Functional assessment of an individual’s physical capacity, psychological preparedness for work and motivational levels
• Identification of vocational and non-vocational barriers to recovery and RTW
• Collaboration with treatment providers to ensure functional treatment goals are aligned with recovery and RTW outcomes;
• Focussed employment strategies, including work placements with a host employer where this can be of benefit for developing marketable skills and to test physical and psychological capacity for work.

An independent clinical assessment can provide:

• An independent opinion on the reasonableness and necessity of the worker’s current or proposed physiotherapy treatment and/or management
• Differential diagnosis using an evidence-based clinical assessment
• An estimate of the individual’s current physical capacity
• Prognosis for return to work
• Recommendation for future physiotherapy treatment needs based on the Clinical Framework for the Delivery of Health Services.

Independent Clinical Assessments undertaken by Innovate Work Health Solutions are completed by an APA Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist who’s 40+ years of experience in Occupational physiotherapy and workplace health enable him to assess complex injury presentations (including physical and non-physical barriers to recovery), accurately estimate work capacity and provide targeted recommendations founded on the Clinical framework for the Delivery of Health Services.

Medicolegal reporting for this service is also available upon request.

An innovative, one-hour functional assessment service which provides an estimate of an individual’s physical tolerances for a variety of relevant job demands including lifting, carrying, standing, sitting and bending utilising the principles of functional capacity evaluation (FCE).

This service is useful when clarification of an individual’s capacity for existing or new employment options is required and includes a brief summary report.