What is active rehabilitation?
Active rehabilitation is a personalized exercise and education program designed by a registered kinesiologist to optimize your recovery following motor vehicle accidents, sports injuries, and to manage chronic health conditions. Following a 60-minute comprehensive assessment, a program is created to help you minimize pain relief, restore mobility, improve posture and build muscular endurance according to your needs.
Each program is designed for your individual needs with input from your physiotherapist or chiropractor. Your recovery plan will be customized with your unique activity goals in mind. You will also be provided with a home exercise program giving you the keys to managing your symptoms and taking control of your own recovery in between appointments and going forward from your final treatment.
When should I get started?
With most injuries caused by motor vehicle accidents, the earlier we can reintroduce proper movement patterns, the better the recovery process will be. Early restoration of proper body mechanics will help minimize the muscle spasms and stiffness experienced in patients with whiplash, neck and lower back pain, shoulder stiffness, etc.
During your one-on-one active rehab sessions, your kinesiologist will work with you and your current tolerated movement and pain level to create a treatment program that suits each stage of your recovery process. Through feedback from other therapists in our multi-disciplinary clinic, your program will also be individualized to compliment your other concurrent treatments.
How do I get started? Is it covered by my insurance?
No referral is required for active rehab following an accident, however, you are welcome to check with your GP or physiotherapist to see if you are a candidate if you are looking to get an active rehab appointment to address a chronic injury or other medical condition (commonly these include arthritis, chronic pain, old sports injuries, etc).
Following a car accident, ICBC will automatically cover your first 12 active rehab sessions during the first 12 weeks immediately following your accident. If additional treatment is required, or the first 12-week period has passed, your kinesiologist can request a treatment extension for you.
Active rehab with a kinesiologist is also covered by some private insurance provider policies through companies like SunLife, GreatWestLife or Manulife depending on your extended healthcare benefits plan. Check with your insurance professional to see if kinesiology treatments are included in your coverage.