The goal of Veterans Affairs Canada’s (VAC’s) Rehabilitation Services and Vocational Assistance Program (RSVP) is to improve your life at home, in your community, and at work. To support you in reaching your rehabilitation goals, Partners in Canadian Veterans Rehabilitation Services (PCVRS) delivers rehabilitation services for a specific period of time based on your unique needs. Rehabilitation services address barriers that are impacting your re-establishment to life after service.

The Role of Intervention

Intervention begins after your rehabilitation needs have been assessed and your Rehabilitation Plan has been developed. Your Rehabilitation Service Specialist (RSS) will coordinate rehabilitation services to meet your rehabilitation needs. These services will be specific to the rehabilitation goals that you have discussed with your RSS and VAC Case Manager and may include services provided by medical, psycho-social or vocational Rehabilitation Service Professionals (RSPs). Your rehabilitation services will be scheduled either in-person, virtually, or possibly a combination of the two, depending on your needs and the availability of the service.

During the Intervention Phase, your “Team” of RSPs as well as your RSS and VAC Case Manager will support you and your active participation in your Rehabilitation Plan. This includes preparing you for upcoming appointments, discussing your progress, and in some cases, adjusting your Rehabilitation Plan based on your needs.

The Role of Rehabilitation Goals

Each Rehabilitation Plan is personalized and includes specific rehabilitation goals, called SMART goals defined as:

• Specific - simple, sensible, significant
• Measurable - meaningful, motivating
• Achievable - agreeable, attainable
• Relevant - reasonable, results-based
• Time bound - time-based, time-sensitive

The goals in your Rehabilitation Plan are set to help you and your rehabilitation team monitor your progress, track your successes and make adjustments to support you in achieving your goals. This approach is supported by Veteran-focused research in the Journal of General Internal Medicine (2021) that assessed the complex needs of Veterans and recommended Participant-centered goals that focused on specific functional health outcomes.

What would the intervention phase look like for a Participant receiving Occupational Therapy services?

Occupational Therapists (OTs) can help you overcome physical or mental health barriers that impact your ability to do the activities you want to do, need to do, or are expected to do in your daily life. OTs help you identify activities that are meaningful to you and break them down into smaller tasks to help you can gain independence.

For example, a Participant may experience social anxiety due to their PTSD resulting in them avoiding crowds or working in groups. OT services may be delivered to help the Participant achieve their goals by initially having them meeting in small, quiet environments then gradually increasing, over time, to larger, public spaces. By working with OTs Participants can also learn coping strategies such as breathing exercises or mindfulness techniques to help improve relaxation, concentration and attention span within these environments. 

The Intervention Phase is where the rehabilitation work occurs and where you should start to see progress. Your hard work and dedication will set you up for success.