Work Hardening Program

What is work hardening?

For people with work-related injuries and chronic pain, Bryn Mawr Rehab offers a range of therapies through RehabWorks, a worker rehabilitation program that brings together a multidisciplinary team to support people who have lost functional capacity due to a work-related illness or injury. Through goal-oriented treatment, patients who attend RehabWorks receive care that allows them to heal medically, physically and emotionally. 

From injury prevention to pain management, we take a creative approach to helping patients overcome work-related injuries. Our state-of-the-art RehabWorks facility has cardiovascular and isokinetic equipment, an on-site therapeutic pool and a work-hardening center. In this center, we combine physical therapy and occupational therapy with work simulation activities for the practice, modification and instruction of work tasks.

Patients in worker rehabilitation also have access to:

Occupational health and worker evaluation services

In addition to our intensive therapy options, we identify and address occupational health issues through a comprehensive range of specialized evaluation services. We’ve designed these evaluations to maximize employee health and productivity while containing health care costs. Evaluation services include:

  • Functional capacity evaluation
  • Independent medical evaluation
  • Pre-employment physical demand level screenings
  • Physiatrist evaluation
  • Psychological evaluation

Patients who participate in therapy at RehabWorks are often working-age professionals who have suffered a traumatic injury or serious illness. Many recovering patients need to regain their strength and relearn necessary skills. Our staff helps make the transition to the workplace as smooth as possible.

Related specialties

Sports Medicine Rehab

As part of our specialized treatment for each athlete, sports injury rehab includes use of therapies and training exercises that not only mimic the demands of your sport but also address the unique conditions of the specific position you play within your sport.

Horticultural Therapy Center

Getting well doesn’t just happen from a hospital bed or inside a gym. Sometimes, letting patients get back to nature is the key to physical and psychological recovery.

Stroke Rehab

Inpatient and outpatient stroke rehabilitation treatment and complex stroke treatment. We develop a unique stroke rehab therapy plan that help patients immediately build on their strengths and learn to compensate for limitations.

Neurological Rehab

Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital offers an extensive, progressive neurologic outpatient rehabilitation program for patients who may be able to function on their own, but wish to function even better.

Physical Therapy

Each inpatient and outpatient physical therapy rehab is individually designed and administered by a licensed physical therapist who consistently guides you from that first visit all the way through recovery.

Brain Injury Rehab

Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital was one of the first facilities in the country to offer traumatic and nontraumatic inpatient brain injury rehab as well as outpatient brain injury rehab and has remained one of the best rehabilitation hospitals for brain injury treatment in the Philadelphia region for more than 30 years.

Occupational Therapy

Occupational therapy and sensory integration helps patients who’ve experienced a debilitative injury or illness return to activities of daily living (ADL), such as dressing, eating, writing, shopping, toileting and driving.