The Difference Between Active and Passive Injury Care

Haley Bass

As the leader in occupational health care, Concentra has treated over 567,000 work-related injuries with close to 93% of employees recommended for return-to-work. Our expert clinicians have seen it all, so we’ve developed treatment plans that will get your employees back to health and work quickly.

There are two possible approaches to injury care – active and passive treatment. While both can help get your employees on the road toward recovery, only active treatment limits long-term impact and keeps employees in the work environment as much as possible.

Passive Injury Care

Passive injury care is often given by a doctor or a physical therapist. It involves things like:

  • Applying heat to sore muscles
  • Acupuncture

It’s a good starting point to help reduce pain, but passive injury care isn’t the most effective method for treatment. While it helps injured people to feel better in the moment, the relief doesn’t last. A patient won’t fully recover from injury unless they actively work to return to their normal routine.

Active Injury Care

An active treatment plan is also provided by a physician or physical therapist, but it relies heavily on commitment from the injured employee in order to be successful. When a patient takes ownership in their health, the active injury care process becomes more meaningful and productive. A modified activity plan will not only help an injured worker transition to full function in their work and personal life, but will also improve their overall physical, and emotional well-being.

So what does active injury care involve?

An active treatment plan keeps their body as strong and flexible as possible through a modified duty/transitional work plan, which limits long-term impact and helps injured employees work toward a faster recovery. With Concentra’s injury care, a clinician will work with the employer to understand how the injury happened, then create a recovery plan that keeps the employee active and returns them to good health in no time.