Did you know around 10 million people receive injuries every year, and they need medical care? In a world of billions, millions of working professionals and individuals suffer from injury every year. The injuries do no good but destroy health, lives, and livelihoods. Physical injuries require rehabilitation, and two popular terms often bifurcate rehabilitation: Work hardening and work conditioning. Work hardening has two subgroups: work hardening physical therapy and work hardening occupational therapy.
Work conditioning and work hardening sound pretty similar but are different in many terms. Both have different rehabilitation goals, focus on different aspects of recovery, have different intensity levels, and different team approaches. In the following blog, we will study both in detail to understand when one can be used or needs to be used.
Work Hardening Vs Work Conditioning: Basic Overview
Work hardening and work conditioning are physical rehabilitation programs for workers after injury. Both programs are focused on helping workers return to their jobs; however, one focuses more on overall physical recovery, whereas the other is determined to help workers regain their pre-injury work level intensity. Both programs are provided by vocational and physical therapists or other medical professionals in a controlled environment.
What is Work Hardening
Work Hardening is a multidisciplinary rehabilitation program designed to help injured workers return to their pre-injury work levels. In this form of therapy, an individual’s work environment is mirrored to address specific targets and help them regain mental and physical strength strictly centered around a particular work environment. This program lasts for 4-8 weeks, based on requirements. Its frequency is 5 days a week and 4 hours a day.
What is Work Conditioning
Work conditioning therapy is also designed to help workers return to their work but is more centered around general physical recovery. It helps injured workers regain their strength, mobility, motor skills, and other physical abilities. It does not stimulate an individual’s work environment. The frequency of this program is 2-4 weeks, 3-5 days a week, and 2-3 hours a day based on requirements.
Pros and Cons of Work Hardening
| Pros of Work Hardening Cons of Work Hardening |
| ● Allowing patients to adapt to ● Work hardening requires unique work-related stress reduces the risk equipment, which limits it to some of injury. areas. ● Improves functional capacity with ● Being an intense program, it the help of exercises like lifting, requires a lot of motivation. Even a carrying, pushing, pulling, etc., that minor lack of motivation can hinder are related to the workplace. progress. ● Improves physical endurance to ● It is not suitable for people with help people do work without any injuries like unstable fractures or fatigue, which also increases severe pain, as they won’t be able to productivity. tolerate intensity. ● Makes people psychologically ● High-intensity therapy sessions can resilient enough to handle the stress lead to the risk of re-injuries or can of the workplace. increase pain and discomfort. ● This program can be customized ● As this program lasts for 4-8 weeks, according to an individual’s needs to it requires time commitment.fulfill unique physical requirements. |
Pros and Cons of Work Conditioning
| Pros of Work Conditioning Cons of Work Conditioning |
| ● Improved endurance, strength, ● Does not promote job-specific flexibility, cardiovascular health, and recoveries which might not help functional abilities. people meet real-life job demands. ● Reduced chances of re-injury ● It is not suitable for serious injuries.● Promotes long-term health leading to lower healthcare costs. ● Reduces pain and discomfort by strengthening the supporting muscles. ● Less time is required to recover, reducing the time and revenue loss. |
Work Conditioning Vs Work Hardening: Comparison
Many people get demented between work conditioning and work hardening. They think both are the same, but it’s not like that. Work hardening can be considered a level-up of work conditioning because it is more intense and has psychologists and vocational therapists as additional members of the team. Let’s compare some key components of both.
Focus
The Work Conditioning program lasts for 2-4 weeks and it focuses on helping workers return to everyday work lives. It focuses on improving cardiovascular endurance to enhance workers’ capacity to do tasks for a longer period. Apart from this, improving patients’ muscle strength, flexibility, mobility, motor skills, balance, and coordination is also the main focus of work conditioning.
Whereas the work hardening program lasts for 4 to 8 weeks as compared to work conditioning (2 to 4 weeks). It is focused on helping the workers to return to their work environment and fit there ideally, just like before injury. Along with improving strength, endurance, flexibility, and coordination, therapists use tasks related to workers’ real work environment, like lifting, pushing, or pulling etc. It helps them return to their work and fit ideally, just like they did before the injury.
Intensity
Work conditioning is a moderately intense program with sessions 3 to 5 days per week and 2 to 3 hours per day. The intensity is adjusted according to the individual’s needs and goals. Therapists include exercises such as brisk walking, swimming, and progressive strengthening exercises and advise patients to put only 40-60% effort.
On the other hand, work hardening is a really intense therapy program with sessions 5 days per week and 4 hours a day. This is the base minimum intensity of the program. Patients can increase their intensity under the guidance of therapists. Job-centered exercises like pushing, pulling, lifting, bending, etc, are advised to be done with 60-80% effort.
Team Approach
The team approach in work conditioning is centered around improving the overall physical condition of patients. The team consists of physical therapists who make sure the patient is ready to rejoin and occupational therapists who ensure the workplace is safe. Additionally, the team also has a physician who provides the final clearance.
The team approach in work hardening is quite similar to that of work conditioning. It also consists of physicians and physical and occupational therapists. In Addition to this, the work-hardening team also has psychologists and vocational rehabilitation specialists. They assist workers with mental preparation, job placement, and vocational training.
| Work Conditioning Work Hardening | |
| Focus | ● Help & motivate ● Help people to meet people to return to the physical and their work life. psychological ● To Improve demands of the job cardiovascular ● To improve physical endurance, muscle as well as |
| strength, flexibility, psychological mobility and motor strength.skills | |
| Intensity | ● Moderately intense ● Highly intense program lasting 2-4 program lasting 4-8 weeks, with sessions weeks, with sessions 3-5 days per week, 5 days per week, 4-6 2-4 hours a day hours a day |
| Team Approach | ● A team of experts ● A team of experts including physical similar to that of and occupational work conditioning but therapists, has Psychologists physicians, and case and Vocational managers to make therapists as the return safe and additional members quick. to make sure the person is both mentally and physically fit for the specific job. |
Work Hardening vs Work Conditioning: When to Use Each
As we already know, both work hardening and work conditioning are rehabilitation programs for workers recovering from injuries that help them get back to their work lives. However, many people get confused between these two and think that any one of them can be used for rehabilitation. But it’s not like that; both have different rehab goals and focus. Let us understand when to use each.
When to Use Work Hardening
Work hardening, being an intense rehabilitation program, must only be used in cases where it is seriously needed, like a grave injury or illness that is stopping a worker from returning to work. Another situation where it can be used is when a worker wants to meet the physical requirements of their job or when a person needs psychological or vocational therapy to recover from an injury.
When to Use Work Conditioning
A good thing about work conditioning is that it is not limited to people who face injuries. Even healthy workers can use it to enhance their physical capabilities or protect themselves from minor injuries at work. However, it can be used in cases of minor or less serious injuries. The best way to decide which one to choose for rehabilitation is to seek advice from Physical therapists.
Final Thoughts
Now, as we have discussed everything about work hardening and work conditioning. You know what they are, their pros and cons, their focus points, intensity levels, or what kind of team approach both the programs have. If you are looking to improve a patient’s physical well-being, then you should go for work conditioning.
However, if you aim to improve a patient’s physical and mental health before they return to their work, then your target should be work hardening. The most important part of both programs is that there must be a certified and experienced team of therapists. You can hire Town Physical Therapy for top-notch physical therapy services.
We offer the highest quality physical therapy care in Paramus, NJ.
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