Occupational Therapist (OT) Sven Roehrs' awareness of the rehabilitative potential of work literally took seed in a garden. Travelling through Germany by train in the 1980s, Sven began to notice patchwork ribbons of small, square garden plots lining each side of the railway tracks at cities’ edge. Stitched together by picket fences, these ten meter by ten meter parcels of greenery weren’t attached to houses but even so each was as idiosyncratic as a suburban backyard: tidy flowerbeds adjoined teeming vegetable patches, which abutted miniature orchards. The effect was picturesque and intriguing. Who were the gardeners?

Sven’s curiosity had been piqued by Schrebergärten, a state-administered system of garden allotments that has been in place in Germany since at least 1983, when the "Federal Small Garden Law" was passed. This law allows the occupants of high-rise housing estates to lease parcels of land from the government, unleashing city-bound green thumbs on the urban fringes.

 “My interest in work-based rehab grew out of what I saw in Germany,” Sven told RTWMatters. “Elderly people seemed to gain particular benefit from the Schrebergärten system. Not only did gardening provide older men and women with a source of fresh food, it also ensured they had a regular dose of exercise and social interaction. In a similar way, work offers physical, social and economic benefits to participants.”  

Sven specialises in workplace issues, but from an OT's perspective an occupation is any activity that is meaningful to the individual.

“The aim is to positively enhance an individual’s potential to participate in a variety of occupations, which may include paid employment. Not all OTs focus on the workplace but our holistic approach and our underlying belief that work is a really positive and beneficial activity means that there is a good fit between occupational therapy and return to work.”

Sven is often called in at the beginning of a graduated return to work, to assess both the individual worker and the workplace to which he or she is returning.

“OTs are particularly good at task analysis,” Sven said. “We have the scientific and technical training to identify not only which duties would aggravate a particular condition, but also which duties would confer benefit.”

“Recovery often stalls because RTW programs are too avoidant. For example, I see people with shoulder injuries who have been told not to do any reaching above shoulder height, even if they are capable of reaching without harm. Without seeing the workplace firsthand, doctors may not be totally familiar with the demands of the duties, and therefore tend to err on the side of caution. In-house staff might not have the clinical skills to judge safe maximums. However, unnecessary limitations can actually lead to a further loss of capacity. OTs can help design a graduated return to work that is safe and promotes recovery.”

Although grounded in the science of ergonomics, occupational therapy is also open to artistic forms of expression and experience.

“I like to use myself as a laboratory,” Sven said. “When I turned 40 I took up classical ballet and last year I performed with the Paris Opera Ballet when they toured Australia. I love music and moving to music; it gives me a very physical sense of being transported, being part of the music. I do it for pleasure and for the amazing challenge, but there is also a rehabilitative potential. In fact, I’m currently mentoring a younger Occupational Therapist, Anita Kerkland, who has a background in OT but who has most recently worked as a dancer at the Moulin Rouge. We’re working on a program to teach dance as a form of therapy for kids with physical disability and poor coordination.”

Sven’s business, Focus Rehabilitation in Toowong, specialises in work-based rehabilitation and soft tissue treatment. His clients range from elite athletes, to dancers, to those involved in the creative arts, to anyone who has had an injury relating to muscles and ligaments. He spoke to us as a representative of OT Week, an initiative to thank the 2,500 OTs across Queensland for their dedication to the profession and the people they treat. You can get in contact with Sven via his email address: sven@focusrehab.com.au.

So go hug an occupational therapist today! Or, in honour of Sven, why not indulge in a little more dancing, gardening or working; all potential contributors to good times and good health.