Vocational Case Manager Role in Returning People to Work

Vocational Case Manager

When people suffer from medical or mental health issues that make work more complex, the responsibilities of a vocational case manager are to counsel them on their employment and rehab options and help them develop goals. Vocational case management services assist the injured worker in returning to work and/or identifying return-to-work options. The typical duties of a vocational case manager are to assess a situation, refer the client to rehabilitation programs or job training seminars, and help them overcome any barriers to employment.

Main Digest

Introduction:

Case management is a process that involves the evaluation of the client's medical condition; it develops and implements plans of care, coordinates medical resources, communicates health care needs to the individual, and monitors and evaluates services that provide quality care.

Roles of Vocational Case Management

The major role of vocational case management is to assist employees in coping with their current situation and have equal opportunities in their workplace, the identification of those who require rehabilitation services, it also provides information to disability insurance providers, it ensures that more beneficiaries return to work and helps employees to regain the capacity to sustain regular employment.

Some of the psychotherapy practices include counseling psychotherapy, psychoanalytic psychotherapy, behavior therapy, cognitive therapy, and group therapy. Counseling psychotherapy is aimed at helping a patient deal with the situation by focusing on the solution to the problem; the main objective is to give advice and encourage the patient and is mostly used on people with mental disorders.

Psychoanalytic psychotherapy is aimed to help a patient understand his feelings, behaviors, and thoughts; it is aimed at understanding the patient and also requires the skills to communicate effectively with the client. Behavior therapy involves the assessment of a patient by interview, which helps the therapist understand the patient.

Cognitive therapy is widely used for treating people with depression. This type of therapy is similar to behavior therapy because it entails day-to-day monitoring of behavior changes and helps prevent the recurrence of disorders.

When a patient has undergone the necessary medical treatment, there is the need to train them to acquire new skills; those who have minimal skills need to be trained to acquire the appropriate capacity to work, the use of special equipment and tools also help the patient to be competent enough to undertake their duties. Follow-up services should be undertaken even when the patient has fully recovered to ensure that the client is competitive in the workplace.

Counseling is helping people cope with difficult situations through interviews and other procedures; it allows people to solve their problems by themselves. Counseling may take long and is aimed at groups such as seriously ill, troubled families, and traumatized people after a disaster.

Vocational Assessment Tool

Interview style and technique

This is a tool used to assess the usefulness of the rehabilitation process; it involves interviewing the clients regarding their progress and treatment process, the client is questioned, and information is collected, which aid in the assessment of the treatment process.

Psychometric

This tool involves psychological techniques to determine a client's recovery process; qualified personnel research the client, and findings are used to assess the validity of treatment and recovery progress.

Disability Factors

This tool is used mostly on people with physical injuries that can be easily observed; cross-examining the client's physical health is undertaken, providing information that aids in assessing the client's health.

Work History

The tool is used on people who have had disabilities in the past, the work history record is a good indicator of the progress of a client, and if the work history indicates that the client has been improving in his career, then this shows that the client is recovering, but if it shows that they have deteriorated in the positions in office then there is need for an urgent examination of the client's disabilities.

Rehabilitation coordinators should have the following characteristics to ensure quality services to the clients:

Empathy

Coordinators should try to put themselves in their client's shoes and see things from the client's perspective; empathy, therefore, aids in the need assessment of the client.

Self Determination

Coordinators must be self-determined to help clients recover from their current situation; they should always put their needs first and never give up on helping their clients.

Avoiding Stereotyping

Coordinators should avoid sex typing and stereotyping and should never make judgments on any clients; all clients should be treated equally.

Flexibility

Coordinators should be flexible and avoid being mechanical, ensuring that good and quality services are rendered according to a client's special needs.

Be Reliable and Responsible

Coordinators must be honest and take responsibility for their share of work as well as the mistake they commit; they should carefully attend to their duties and always be on time.

Listening and paying attention

They must pay attention and focus their energy on the task at hand

Have a supportive attitude

The coordinators should be interested in learning and not be defensive; they must treat their clients and co-workers with respect and understand that their key to success is to help the clients.

Good Communication Skills

Coordinators must know how to communicate with the clients and other workers, they must create an environment in which clients feel free to disclose whatever concerns them, coordinators should recognize and interpret the verbal and nonverbal expressions of the client, they must listen to the clients and interpret what they say appropriately.

They must communicate their views correctly to their clients, and their body language should correspond with their verbal language to avoid confusing them. Finally, the client's information should be private and confidential and not be discussed or told to others.

We can therefore conclude that coordinators should put the needs of the clients first, should not discriminate, practice confidentiality, be trustworthy and honest, empathetic, and be self-determined; all these values guide behavior and relationships formed with the clients and also help in the determination of a clients problems.

Conclusion

Vocational management is a process that entails the evaluation of the medical conditions of clients, and once they are identified, it helps coordinate the implementation of medical care to the clients; it also ensures that clients quality services to recover.

The main role of vocational management is to ensure that clients cope with their current situation and have equal opportunities at work; it also ensures that clients who return to work regain the capacity to sustain regular employment and to be competent.

Rehabilitation coordinators should have the required values to provide quality services to the clients; they should not discriminate, they should practice confidentiality, they must be trustworthy and honest, and they must be empathetic and self-determined.

People suffering from mental and brain need early interventions to ensure that they return to work; counseling and therapeutic processes play a major role in helping patients recover. Patients, however, need to be retrained for a different occupation, or they should attain a more appropriate job to be competent and productive.

References:

• Richard J., William G. and Baldwin Marjorie (1995) Managing Work Disability: Why First Return to Work Is Not a Measure of Success, Industrial, and Labor Relations Review, Vol.48, No.3,
• Weil M., & Karl J. M. (1985) Case management in human service practice, Jossey-Bass Ltd, California:
• Powell T. (1994) Head Injury: A Practical Guide, Winslow Press, USA
• P. Weinstocks and L. Toms Barker (1995) Mental Health and Vocational Rehabilitation Collaboration: Work, the Psychosocial Rehabilitation Journal
• Linda Toms Barker and Ralph Warren (1996) Service Coordination and Long-Term Support in the Delivery of Vocational Services for Persons with Psychiatric Disabilities

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Cite This Page (APA): Langtree, I. C. (2010, April 27). Vocational Case Manager Role in Returning People to Work. Disabled World. Retrieved April 25, 2024 from www.disabled-world.com/disability/employment/jobs/vocational-case-manager.php

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