Treatment and assessment
Learn what primary treatment is, the importance of returning workers to work and what to do if a worker’s recovery doesn’t go as expected.
Treatment philosophy
The WCB supports a functional restoration approach that promotes a return to normal activity, including work, in a safe manner. Passive care is discouraged. The goals are to:
- Maximize the worker’s functional abilities to the pre-injury condition, if possible.
- Enable an early return to work, with the pre-injury employer, if possible.
The functional rehabilitation model of care is encouraged because it:
- Uses the restoration of function as the first measure of treatment success.
- Encourages care providers and clients to recognize that successful long-term recovery is associated with return to function, even in the presence of increasing symptoms where there are no objective signs of harm.
- Is supported by significant evidence-based literature.
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Learn more about primary treatment and the recovery process
Primary treatment
Primary treatment is provided as soon as possible following an injury. Learn what the management plan a primary practitioner develops might include and what to do if a worker seeks treatment without knowing their condition is work related.
Learn moreReturn to work
Return to work is a vital part of the recovery process. Learn what to include on a list of the worker’s restrictions, what the health care provider should do while caring for a worker and why return to work when medically safe is so important.
Learn moreAssessment team review
It can happen that workers injured on the job take longer than expected to recover from their injury. A care provider can ask for an assessment team review. Learn what assessment teams do, information they provide and reasons why a request might be made for an assessment team review.
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