Disability management program

A Disability Management Program, or DMP, is used by employers to assist employees who are unable to work due to injury or illness. The DMP consists of several components, however not all DMPs include every component. Smaller programs may only include the basic components, while larger programs generally have more components. The purpose of the DMP is to benefit the employer by returning experienced and trained employees to work quickly. The central distinction required to plan and operate a DMP is between the terms "impairment" and "disability". Although physicians diagnose and treat impairments, employers decide if an employee is able to work within the exertional limits of a disability, which is a vocational issue and assessed by non-medical means.

While there are other entities that offer DMPs, the individual who has the done most to initiate and document the methods and materials of Disability Management in the workplace is Jasen M. Walker, Ed.D.[1], President of CEC Associates, Inc.[2], in Valley Forge, PA.

Starting in 1983, Walker developed numerous methods that now stand as the basic structure of effective Disability Management for injured employees. These methods (and materials) are available to vocational counseling professionals through articles in rehabilitation-related journals, as well as regularly scheduled seminars. These concepts stand as the only specific and documented materials available for the profession. They include:

♦ the specific components of a DMP;
♦ a Lexicon of the essential Disability Management terms;
♦ a “How to Implement a DMP” article;
♦ the methods and materials for a Transition-to-Work process;
♦ the methods and materials for job analysis to meet Americans with Disabilities Act standards for “essential functions”;
♦ a definition of “injured worker helplessness” and specific methods to work with employees identified as such;
♦ the identification of disability proneness in employees;
♦ the development of assessment methods and materials for injured worker evaluations;
♦ the adaptation/application of such traditional counseling strategies as Locus of Control, Attributional Style, Agentics, Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, Acquired Disability, etc., to workplace Disability Management;
♦ the guidelines for “Disability Duration”;
♦ the significance of and methods of dealing with co-malingering;
♦ the adaptation of Positive Psychology and “resilience” concepts (especially values and strengths) to workplace Disability Management; and
♦ the distribution of Managerial Mediation methods to workplace HR professionals.

In addition to articles for professional journals, Walker has written over 50 Disability Management articles for professional Continuing Education[3] credits. The articles are the only such articles accessed online. All the articles, including content-specific articles that meet the “ethics” requirements, are credentialed by the certifying commissions for CRC[4], CCM[5], and CDMS professionals.

Walker and CEC Associates, Inc., have published the longest running newsletter for occupational rehabilitation counselors. The newsletter, The New Worker[6], focuses on issues relevant to Disability Management, and is available online. It has been published continuously since 1983.