Abstract
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) offers challenges and opportunities in rehabilitative care for returning clients to previous employment after medical illness or injury. The process of work reintegration begins with assessing the client’s rehabilitation potential to return to work. When clinical reasoning indicates a good rehabilitation potential, a job site analysis (JSA) is conducted to determine the essential functions of the client’s work. Upon completion of the JSA, a variety of strategies can be used for successfully returning the client to work. The three case reports in this article illustrate that a JSA can serve as the basis for formulating a holistic treatment plan that addresses skill performance areas affecting work readiness for clients with neurologic and orthopaedic conditions and can facilitate successful work reintegration for these clients. The JSA links clients’ rehabilitative care and work reentry after medical illness or injury and maximizes positive outcomes in reintegrating these clients to the workplace in compliance with ADA provision Title 1, Employment.
