Tag: Occupational Physio

The Occupational Physio Case: Do You Really Need It?

In the modern era of economic developments in the service industry, the health problems of workers are increasing. Most complaints have their causes in the physical exertion – according to the motto “What is not used is wasted”. A lack of physical demand results in back pain, joint problems, metabolic disorders, and other diseases. Employees have to take sick leave more and more often.

In addition to physical illnesses, on the other hand, mental problems started to gain momentum, usually caused by stress, high work tempo, and time pressure. Consequently, employees naturally become less productive and less motivated, because everyday work is associated with numerous health issues.

Thanks to these arising issues many companies in the physio Manly West area have started to improve conditions in the workplace. This article focuses on how occupational physio is applied among the workforce in the Manly West area.

Measures Of Workplace Health Promotion

Occupational physio methods applied in physio Manly West clinics are recommended for all diseases related to worker’s society. But the prevention they are promoting is even better. One way to keep the body healthy and fit is to exercise. That is why many physio Manly West clinics offer various exercise programs for employers and their employees. These and many other measures are part of workplace health promotion.

The first aim of occupational physio health promotion is to prevent employees from becoming ill at work. It is a modern strategy of companies that strengthens the health of employees and improves their well-being.

Pain or other illnesses often have more than just physical causes. Mental and emotional connections must be examined to be able to cure the disease properly and completely. For this reason, the high-level occupational physio clinics that operate in the physio Manly West precinct play an important role. They promise not only physical but also mental health through a holistic approach. They explain the biological interaction so that the causes of an illness can be understood and a solution can be sought together.

Benefits Of Workplace Health Promotion

Successful implementation of occupational physio health promotion has many advantages for both employers and employees. Company health promotion ensures good performance of all employees. In this way, the company can save money in the long term because the employees perform better and take sick leave less often. This reduces the costs of illness and production losses.

In addition, the state of health amongst the workforce improves and the health risks are reduced. This means that the employee has to go to the doctor less often, so he is more present at the workspace.

This commitment to employees enhances the company’s image and strengthens its competitiveness. Also, the working atmosphere improves due to the satisfaction of the employees. This motivates them to help shape the workplace and the workflow.

In continuation of the text, we will present how important proper occupational physio treatment is, through some cases that happened in practice. Let’s look at some of them:

CASE nr.1

Polypipe Group is one of the largest manufacturers of piping systems, climate, and water management systems in Europe with 3,000 workforces across the United Kingdom. As in all other businesses in World, the Polypipe Group company is faced with an aging workforce that provides a wide range of physical tasks and manual handling. The nature of the work performed by the factories often led to an increased degree of injuries among workers, fatigue, unwillingness, and lower motivation. Due to all these reasons, the work itself suffered, which was seen by a constant slight decline in production, as a whole. Thus, the management Board was forced to do something to improve the workers’ condition, in such a way that it would invest in their health.

When we talk about musculoskeletal disorders, the evidence shows that proper occupational physio treatment after an injury occurs helps accelerate the recovery process and also prevents acute health conditions from turning Into chronic.

In August 2020, Polypipe Group engaged Sano Physiotherapy Ltd to provide a six-month occupational physio program. During this period, the highly professional occupational physiotherapists from Sano Physiotherapy Ltd were in charge of monitoring the work process and if an unwanted injury occurs, they immediately proceed to deal with the various treatment methods at their disposal.

The program was carried out by one of Sano’s best occupational physiotherapists. He was in a permanent connection with the workers, by giving some educational advice and conducting some treatment methods to the concerned workers who complained of musculoskeletal disorders, back pains, knee problems, etc.

The results were amazing at the end of the pilot program. After the course ended, 99.1% of all educational meetings between the doctor and the workers were held, demonstrating that the service had confidence between employees and managers. Furthermore, of all employees referred, 54% were treated and discharged after finishing the course and returning to recovery levels. 85% of all workers returned to their previous work duties and reported over 75% minimum improvement in their physical symptoms.

After the completion of the program and the conducted numerical research regarding the success, a startling number of 279 saved sick days related to musculoskeletal disorders was reached. Saving 279 sick days during six months in a company with 3.000 workers was outstanding. If we assume that the employee’s earnings are aligned with the national minimum wage and the salary is not increased during sick leave, this leads to data of saving £21,472 in the 6 months, which means at least a 2.5-fold return on investment for Polypipe.

A survey was also conducted among the employees regarding how satisfied they were with the service, and the following figures were arrived at:

• On the question of ‘How much is possible to recommend the service to a colleague or a friend?’, the outcome was  9.75 (from a scale of 0-10)
• On the question ‘Did the occupational physio service meet your needs?’ the outcome was 10.
• On the question ‘Do you agree that the occupational physio service provided by Sano’s physiotherapy has shortened your recovery time?; the outcome was 10.
• On the question ‘If you have been off work, did attending the occupational physio service lead toward a quicker return to the work process?’ the outcome was 10.

CASE nr.2

After 25 years of experience working in an old metal sheets company, 47 years old Jim hurt his lower back, by lifting a large 60 lbs sheet of metal. He has worked in his current position at the company for the last 10 years.

Like any normal working day, while carrying the tin, Jim heard a sound coming from the other part of the hall. He suddenly turned to the left and suddenly felt a sharp pain in his spine. The injury occurred 3 weeks ago, and he has been off work ever since. The pain was serious in intensity in the first hours, and then it steadily decreased, but the movement problems remained. Due to the injury, he can’t return to the working process. The injury was diagnosed as a ‘soft tissue injury.

It’s worth noting that he has a history of back pain from the past. His first injury occurred previously when he worked as a warehouseman responsible for organizing and lifting containers of sheet metal. Then he received L4/L5 disc herniation and had to have surgery. After the surgery, he underwent a six-month rehabilitation process, with both occupational therapy and physiotherapy. Due to the injury, Jim was out of the work process for 12 months. When he returned to the job, his morale and dedication to the work were at a minimum. He was feeling down and withdrawn. Furthermore, he continued to feel low back pain and found the job difficult.

After a 3 week’s absence from the work process, Jim has been contacted by the occupational physiotherapist, engaged from the factory where he worked, to ask him about the injury and the expectations of the return to the process. The clinic was engaged from his factory with the purpose to facilitate a return to work process for injured employees. Jim was asked several questions about his duties at work, about other jobs he has worked in the company, and his plan about returning to work. The therapist was scheduled to perform a ‘functional evaluation’ and give some recommendations on his ability to go back to the work.

The occupational physiotherapist practiced the ‘Matheson approach’ as a standardized evaluation protocol, so he determined that Jim could stand for 30 minutes before going to a rest break and for a total of 3 hours during the 6-hour assessment. Jim can lift 30 lbs from knee to waist height and carry 30 lbs over a distance of 100 feet.

Over the next period, Jim’s health steadily improved. The pain steadily decreased, which led to Jim returning to his daily household duties, and then to his work duties, faster than expected. Thanks to the occupational physio treatment, the initial pessimistic scenario that he could no longer return to work and would be fired from his job was replaced by a gradual normalization of the situation and a gradual return to working conditions.

Do you really need occupational physio treatment?

The above examples show that occupational physio can be really useful. An investment in your health is an investment in а better life. The health and well-being of the workers must be a priority nr.1 for every manager. When it comes to larger factories where work is done in demanding working conditions, hiring a top professional in the field of occupational physio Manly West is a safe bet.

Final Thoughts

Make online research and find out which occupational physio Manly West clinics operate in the area. Find the affordable one and feel free to contact one of them.

The Complete Guide to Occupational Physiotherapy and How it Can Help You to Improve Your Work-life Balance

The word “health” refers to a state of complete emotional and physical well-being. Good health is the key to avoiding stress and living a long and active life and it can be defined as physical, mental, and social well-being, and as the key to a good life. Health also refers not only to the absence of disease but to the ability to recover and protect against disease and other problems, too.

Occupational physiotherapy as one of the oldest forms of so-called worker’s therapy is practiced first in psychiatric institutions, and then in all others institutions where it is needed. The goal of occupational physio is to motivate people to actively participate in purposeful activity. Occupational physiotherapy is most often implemented as a part of group work and physio Manly West area has several occupational physio clinics where interested clients can ask for help.

Still not sure how occupational physio works? Learn more about occupational physiotherapy as well as the advantages it brings, the financial aspect of such services, and the differences with physiotherapy, below in the text.

What Is Occupational Physio?

Occupational physio therapy is a client-focused socio-health profession that deals with promoting health and well-being in any occupation. Often, life can be unpredictable and unexpectedly put certain barriers in front of people that prevent them from carrying out every day tasks, and most important work activities.

The primary goal of occupational physio Manly West clinics is to enable people to participate in activities of daily living without experiencing any pain or discomfort. Occupational physiotherapists from the physio Manly West area achieve that goal by working with people and communities to improve their ability to engage in the working process, needs, and expectations.

Furthermore, occupational physiotherapy is carried out to acquire new, better work habits and correct behaviour. The specialists from physio Manly West areas allow clients to acquire new skills and learn to perform tasks that will benefit them after the treatment is over. In addition, all planned, organized and performed activities allow clients to feel useful, see the results of their work, create a positive attitude towards work-life balance, acquire work habits, as well as develop self-discipline.

Occupational physio is recommended to everyone struggling to perform daily tasks and take care of his own wellbeing. This type of therapy isn’t recommended only to elderly people but even yonder people can heave great benefit of it. Occupational physio is also recommended to people who have suffered work-related injuries, everyday injuries, recovering from serios surgary or simply having a difficulty taking care of his own needs.

Benefits Of Occupational Physio

Occupational physio therapy is a type of treatment aimed at helping people of all ages who have functional, motor, perceptual, neuropsychological, and psycho-social disorders. This therapy helps people improve the quality of their life through the performance of various activities, become more self-confident, cope with everyday situations, perform various roles in their life, and continue normal life after they have suffered some sort an injury at work or home. The goal is to achieve maximum independence and freedom in everyday life.

For clients/patients who are recovering from injuries or have developmental or cognitive disabilities that affect their motor skills, emotions, or behavior, a licensed occupational physio therapist helps them become independent, improve life skills, and develop the ability to perform ordinary daily activities. They works with people of all age groups to overcome physical obstacles, illnesses, or developmental disabilities and disorders to improve the quality of life of clients/patients and their families.

Occupational physio therapy has been imposed as an important link to our current life. It played a crucial role in improving the well-being of people. Therefore the benefits from this profession are numerous.

Occupational physio therapy brings several advantages to its clients and it especially aims to:

• Assistance and adaptation in the living environment, the family, and the workplace;
• Directing and maintaining attention;
• Improving mood;
• Encouraging communication;
• Encouraging independence;
• Encouraging performing self-care activities in daily activities;
• Training of perceptual functions;
• Manual dexterity training;
• Boosting mood;
• Proper stress management;
• It acts on psychosocial activities (through social contacts achieved through group work);
• Proper management of free time (play, sports, hobbies, interests, socialization);
• Helps to control and release inappropriate impulses;
• It helps to accept the person’s own identity.

Is Occupational Physio Expensive?

Occupational physiotherapy is not a cheap medical service here in the physio Manly West area. It could be a serious burden for many people, who can not afford it. Despite the high amount of cost, it is worth using the service, due to the benefits for the body, already shared in the article above. Health must be positioned before all other things.

However, bear in mind that not everyone can afford this type of service, but there is a solution for that as well. Several physio Manly West clinics have started to provide bulk billing payment options, which is certainly a cheaper option.

Bulk billing is covered by the Medicare system in Australia in a health insurance form. When you are subscribed with the bulk billing payment option, your occupational physiotherapist accepts the insurance as payment for the service. You won’t have any additional costs for the provided service.

Several physio Manly West clinics admit a bulk billing payment option you just need to find and check which ones. Be also aware that some physio Manly West clinics charge only a part through bulk billing, so you have to pay the difference to the total amount of cost.

What Is The Difference Between Occupational Physio And Physiotherapy?

There are a lot of similarities between occupational physio and physiotherapy. Both of them are focused on the clients to improve their health and well-being. But, differences between them can be found in the methods and practices that are applied in.

Physiotherapy is a treatment with physical agents such as heat, cold, electric current, ultrasound, magnetic field, laser, and movement. However, physiotherapy is much more than that. It is an effort to use all available means to restore the state of balance and full function of both the starting system and the entire organism. It is as much a science as it is an art because it deals with the treatment of diseases, but also with the preservation of health. Physiotherapists by applying therapy, besides treating a specific pain condition or disease, also help the patient to catch up with the natural rhythms of his body, so that the condition without pain or other symptoms is established and maintained.

Unlike physiotherapy, occupational physiotherapy has a more holistic approach to coping with some health issues. It heals a person, not a disease. Occupational physio Manly West therapy is practised by professional therapists, through the following 4 golden phases:

• Occupational physiotherapy is based on an assessment of individual capacities and the difficulties faced by the person in daily functioning. The assessment includes the use of standardized procedures, interviews, observation of the person in various life situations, and consultation with family members and other professional profiles involved in the person’s life.

• Based on the results of the assessment, the occupational physiotherapist creates an occupational physio plan and sets short-term and long-term treatment goals. The plan should be relevant to the client’s stage of development, life habits, potential, and interests.

• Treatment focuses on programs that are designed to facilitate the performance of daily activities and adaptation to the environment in which the client plays, learns, lives, and socializes. For example, by providing adapted aids that will facilitate the client’s independence in self-care, removing barriers in the environment, and providing resources to reduce stress.

• Occupational physio therapist recognizes the importance of teamwork. Collaboration and coordination with other therapists, families, educators, teachers, caregivers, and volunteers are important in realizing a holistic approach.

Final Thoughts

When it comes to physical or mental disorders, people often forget how much strength and potential they have. They feel helpless and do not see a way out. That’s why physio Manly West clinics are here, to constantly remind them how much they can do because all the power is in their hands. They always try to awaken their belief that they can live a wonderful life with as few obstacles as possible because everyone deserves such a life.

We hope that you have already realized the meaning of occupational physio for a healthier, more balanced life. Our health and well-being as the most important aspect of our biological survival must be an inevitable part of our life. We deserve it.