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Occupational Rehabilitation

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine

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Synonyms

Industrial rehabilitation; Vocational rehabilitation; Work rehabilitation

Definition

Occupational rehabilitation is the science and practice of maximizing function in workers with a disabling health condition, including assisting them to return to a level of work activity appropriate to their functional, psychological, and cognitive capacity. Related and synonymous terms include work rehabilitation, industrial rehabilitation, and vocational rehabilitation, among others. The past decades have seen the development of therapies and programs aimed at helping working-age adults with musculoskeletal, neurological, and mental health conditions that lead to work disability (Jundt and King 1999). Although the programs may have different names, their goals are fundamentally similar including restoring physical abilities as well as psychological and functional tolerances of the disabled worker in order to return them to gainful employment (Schultz et al. 2007).

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References and Further Reading

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physical Therapy, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada

    Douglas P. Gross

  2. Workers’ Compensation Board of Alberta Millard Health, Edmonton, AB, Canada

    Calvin Haws & Joanne Park

  3. Department of Occupational Therapy, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada

    Joanne Park

Authors
  1. Douglas P. Gross
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  2. Calvin Haws
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  3. Joanne Park
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Douglas P. Gross .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, Florida, USA

    Marc Gellman

  2. Campbell University School of Pharmacy, Buies Creek, North Carolina, USA

    J. Rick Turner

Section Editor information

  1. Behavioral Medicine Research Center, Department of Psychology, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA

    Marc D. Gellman

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Gross, D.P., Haws, C., Park, J. (2018). Occupational Rehabilitation. In: Gellman, M., Turner, J. (eds) Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6439-6_101938-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6439-6_101938-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-6439-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-6439-6

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