Improving the transition between medical and vocational rehabilitation

: In the framework of medical rehabilitation measures, cardiac patients' physical capacity was evaluated from an occupational medicine perspective, through vocational assessment in the workshops of a vocational retraining centre. Recommendations for vocational reintegration were derived on that basis, available at the end of the rehab measure for presentation to the financially responsible agency as a proposal for immediate implementation. The potential for actual realization of these proposals is further enhanced on account of preparatory clarification of the patients' motivational tendencies in individual and group talks. The vocational assessment performed not least provided an opportunity for strengthening the chronically ill patients' self-confidence regarding their return to work life.