Peter and Carole Johnson had both been working at the same school for over 30 years when Peter suffered a spinal cord injury at home in mid-March 2009. Following unsuccessful surgery to repair the damage, he underwent four months’ rehabilitation at Caulfield Hospital followed by an additional four months’ physiotherapy at home.

Twenty months on, Peter is now “back at the chalkface.” According to his wife Carole, one of the major factors in his successful return to work has been the support they both received from the school community.

“It is all about how people treat you and how willing they are to accommodate you,” she says.

Steps taken by the school to help Peter’s transition back to work:

• The school’s Chief of Staff organised for the school carpenter to meet with Peter and his OT to discuss what adjustments needed to be made to ease his transition back to school. Carole was asked to select a parking space and an office that would best suit his needs.

• Proximity to an easily accessible toilet was high on Peter’s list of priorities. Bowel and bladder control can be a major issue with spinal injuries. For Peter, the fear of having an accident at work was a major mental hurdle.

Support for Carole:

• On an emotional roller coaster herself, Carole wanted to concentrate her energies on Peter and his rehabilitation, and found it draining to be constantly fielding questions from concerned co-workers. Recruiting Graeme Morgan, a close mutual friend at the school, as her ‘deputy’ was Carole’s first move. Graeme’s job was to disseminate information amongst the staff and act as a ‘filter’ between Carole and the rest of the teaching cohort.
   
• The school principal put in place alternative arrangements to relieve her of two periods of teaching per week, giving her the flexibility she needed to meet the demands placed on her by Peter’s uncertain situation in the weeks immediately after the accident.

Peter’s tips for injured workers on their return to work:

• Pace yourself – Don’t overdo it at the start as this can result in exhaustion. So determined was Peter to demonstrate his fitness for work, he pushed himself too hard at the start until someone from Therapy in the Home (TITH)* showed him a graph that clearly demonstrated that maximum effort was followed by collapse. Peter soon learned the wisdom of operating at half throttle and allowing plenty of time for rest, at least in the initial stages of his return to school. As you gain in strength and stamina, it then becomes time to….
   
• Push your boundaries – don’t put yourself in danger, but don’t allow yourself to become complacent. From using a rollator in the early part of his return to school, Peter now gets around with the help of just one stick – and now he won’t use a lift if stairs are an option.
   
• Never accept that you have come as far as you can – there is always room for improvement. Peter continues to attend Caulfield Hospital as an outpatient for regular physiotherapy and hydrotherapy after having resumed .4 of his teaching workload. Next year he will take on .6.
  
  “I have yet to reach a plateau in my progress,” he says. “As long as I continue to do my exercises, I continue to see improvement.”
   
• Avoid becoming ‘remote’ as a result of having a part-time presence at work – One of the advantages of full-time work is that you are usually well-informed about daily events at work.

“Part-time workers need to make the extra effort to stay abreast,” Peter says. He attends morning staff meetings whenever possible, even though his part-time status doesn’t require it.

• Introduce yourself to new staff – during Peter’s absence, a new principal was appointed. Before his accident, Peter was the unofficial school photographer, and attended most school events in that capacity. As a result, he spent a lot of time with the previous principal. Although his injury prevents him from taking on this role again, Peter plans to make the effort to get to know the new principal better.

Peter and Carole Johnson’s positive experience of returning to work was helped along by a supportive workplace, and co-workers who also happened to be friends of many years’ standing. Not everyone is as fortunate, but support from a caring partner is a major advantage in a successful return to work.

When asked to name the most significant factor contributing to his success Peter says, “I would not have been able to do it without the support of Carole.”

For her part, Carole cites the help she received from the school community as the major contributing factor to her role in Peter’s successful return. She remembers how important it was to her that she be allowed to tell the staff of his imminent return to the school following the all-clear by his doctors.

“I saw people in the front row of the staff room with tears in their eyes,” she says. It was an emotional occasion for both Carole and her fellow staff members, but a necessary part of the process for her.

For Peter, it was the culmination of months of hard work and sheer determination. Returning to work after a serious injury is a major achievement for any injured worker. In the case of Peter Johnson, it is an ongoing process towards good health, and it isn’t over yet.

*Home-based rehabilitation provided for outpatients