Vocational Rehabilitation practitioner? By Dr Julie Denning - CPsychol, Working to Wellbeing

This was a question that I was asked a number of years back now.  

I was at a conference and discussing the work that I do and the person opposite me said ‘Oh you are vocational rehabilitation (VR) practitioner then?’  This took me by surprise a little as I had up until then, identified myself as per my profession, which is a Chartered Health Psychologist.   I reflected on this for a second and replied ‘yes, I guess I am’.  This shift of thinking and adoption of a new professional label gave me cause to consider what my perception of a VR practitioner actually is.

I had always had an interest in the world of work alongside my training as a Health Psychologist.  I worked briefly in the arena of selection and recruitment and gained a thorough grounding in competency frameworks.  I led on an MSc in Occupational Organisational Psychology and Psychiatry course at KCL and furthered my interest in work and health.  It was only when I started working for a market leading physiotherapy company as their consultant psychologist that I really put work and health together in my working life.  But still even at this point I didn’t put two and two together: that I was a VR practitioner.

"The conversation at the conference was around the time that I was developing our long term conditions service at Working To Wellbeing.  We were designing work support services enabling people to return to work or remain at work and self-managing their condition.  I was the Health Psychologist in the team, supporting my colleagues as I had always done, to upskill their knowledge in a work context."

For me, my agenda has moved on and taken a new lead where work needs to be a clinical outcome for all healthcare practitioners.  This would mean that work, which we spend more time doing than time with our families, is at the centre of healthcare dialogue.   This is the reason for me putting pen to paper today, if I can speak to you as a fellow healthcare practitioner and encourage you to start putting work on your agenda, then not only have I upskilled you to the role of VR practitioner in a small way, I have put work where it needs to me in my eyes.

So, I would encourage you, when you next meet your patient, ask them about their work, the role it has in their lives and the impact it has on their health and vice versa.  They will be grateful you asked and you will help them along their journey of recovery.  Oh, and don’t forget, come and join us at the VRA and we will support you to develop your skills further in vocational rehabilitation.  You honestly won’t look back.