What does a rehabilitation specialist do?
Rehabilitation specialists are professionals who are responsible for helping individuals with physical and mental disabilities to reintegrate into society and live independently. These specialists must assist their clients in finding the type of work they could do with their disability and prepare them for their interview. They are required to provide a basic explanation about the medical or mental health condition to their clients. Rehabilitation specialists must also collaborate with other professionals to assist with rehabilitation exercises.
Rehabilitation specialist responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real rehabilitation specialist resumes:
- Ensure the facilities' mission are achieved by effectively supervising the mental health rehabilitative efforts of severely and chronically ill patients.
- Assist in the development and implementation of ISP goals and objectives.
- Utilize extensive administrative, CPR, first aid, and medical equipment training as needed.
- Encourage and assist patients to perform specific activities of daily living (ADL's).
- Prepare and participate in semi and annual meetings, ISP's and day hab plans.
- Resolve issues with the clients that create a barrier to the successful completion of their IPE.
- Record all inputs and outputs, as well as changing the Foley bag or external catheter.
- Assist the program with the continuation of accreditation by demonstrating conformance to CARF standards through require documentation.
- Attend, participate, and complete in-service activities relevant to the job function, including first aid and CPR.
- Assist to improve adaptive functioning of clients by developing task analysis and conduct skill training in a learning environment.
- Prepare and submit require individual plans for employment (IPE) design to restore the client to suitable and gainful work.
- Coordinate the development, implementation and evaluation of clinical standards to enhance the quality of care for the pediatric rehabilitation patient.
- Make arrangements and/or provide ADL's and education on topics including nutrition, budgeting, medication and social skills.
- Perform or acquire testing for aptitude, education and transferable skills.
- Write, implement, document and analyze IRP data, using behavioral programming techniques.
Rehabilitation specialist skills and personality traits
We calculated that 24% of Rehabilitation Specialists are proficient in Rehabilitation, Patients, and Crisis Intervention. They’re also known for soft skills such as Listening skills, Patience, and Compassion.
We break down the percentage of Rehabilitation Specialists that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Rehabilitation, 24%
Coordinated the development, implementation and evaluation of clinical standards to enhance the quality of care for the pediatric rehabilitation patient.
- Patients, 14%
Ensured the facilities' mission was achieved by effectively supervising the mental health rehabilitative efforts of severely and chronically ill patients.
- Crisis Intervention, 6%
Provided crisis intervention for clients in crisis situations to ensure health and safety or to prevent hospitalization or incarceration.
- Excellent Interpersonal, 4%
Possess impeccable organizational, written and verbal skills and excellent interpersonal skills.
- Patient Care, 4%
Assisted owners in managing day-to-day operations of outpatient clinic and off-site contract obligations (including direct patient care delivery).
- Social Work, 4%
Worked with rehabilitation team, parents, family members, doctors, and social workers to address individual client needs.
"rehabilitation," "patients," and "crisis intervention" are among the most common skills that rehabilitation specialists use at work. You can find even more rehabilitation specialist responsibilities below, including:
Listening skills. The most essential soft skill for a rehabilitation specialist to carry out their responsibilities is listening skills. This skill is important for the role because "good listening skills are essential for rehabilitation counselors." Additionally, a rehabilitation specialist resume shows how their duties depend on listening skills: "served as liaison and communicated with the bureau of vocational rehabilitation. "
Patience. Many rehabilitation specialist duties rely on patience. "rehabilitation counselors must have patience to help clients learn new skills and strategies to address their disabilities.," so a rehabilitation specialist will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways rehabilitation specialist responsibilities rely on patience: "exhibited patience, care, and compassion towards others. "
Compassion. rehabilitation specialists are also known for compassion, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to rehabilitation specialist responsibilities, because "rehabilitation counselors often work with people who are dealing with stressful and difficult situations." A rehabilitation specialist resume example shows how compassion is used in the workplace: "provide compassion, help with hygiene needs, set goals for individuals"
Interpersonal skills. rehabilitation specialist responsibilities often require "interpersonal skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "rehabilitation counselors must be able to work with different types of people." This resume example shows what rehabilitation specialists do with interpersonal skills on a typical day: "teach and role model interpersonal skills and independent living skills. "
Communication skills. Another crucial skill for a rehabilitation specialist to carry out their responsibilities is "communication skills." A big part of what rehabilitation specialists relies on this skill, since "rehabilitation counselors need to be able to communicate effectively with clients." How this skill relates to rehabilitation specialist duties can be seen in an example from a rehabilitation specialist resume snippet: "managed 25 client budgets and monitored client medications led group therapies to enhance clients communication and independent living skills"
The three companies that hire the most rehabilitation specialists are:
- Wellpath14 rehabilitation specialists jobs
- National Mentor Holdings Inc.
13 rehabilitation specialists jobs
- Advocates12 rehabilitation specialists jobs
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Compare different rehabilitation specialists
Rehabilitation specialist vs. Program counselor
A Program Counselor is an essential part of a school's faculty. It's the counselor's responsibility to ensure that students are benefiting from the school's educational curriculum. This person is also tasked to help students resolve issues and problems that may hinder any educational progress. They are also part of the disciplinary team intended to instill good morals, ethics, and decency in students. The Program Counselor is one of the teacher or professor who has expertise or has a high educational degree in a particular subject or field.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a rehabilitation specialist are more likely to require skills like "rehabilitation," "excellent interpersonal," "patient care," and "mental health." On the other hand, a job as a program counselor requires skills like "behavioral interventions," "behavioral issues," "compassion," and "relapse prevention." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Program counselors really shine in the health care industry with an average salary of $41,845. Comparatively, rehabilitation specialists tend to make the most money in the professional industry with an average salary of $47,971.program counselors tend to reach similar levels of education than rehabilitation specialists. In fact, program counselors are 0.6% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.0% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Rehabilitation specialist vs. Counselor
Often, counselors are known to be the go-to person in times we are in need of emotional and psychological support. They help people to manage and overcome the issues which affect their mental health and well-being. Counselors face different kind of situations which may involve trauma, addiction, disabilities, abuse, suicide, anger management, career, and even personal relationships. They provide care, counseling, rehabilitation, and support services. Every counseling requires collaborative effort both from the counselor and client to become effective.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real rehabilitation specialist resumes. While rehabilitation specialist responsibilities can utilize skills like "rehabilitation," "excellent interpersonal," "patient care," and "behavior management," counselors use skills like "family therapy," "intake assessments," "social services," and "mental illness."
Counselors earn a lower average salary than rehabilitation specialists. But counselors earn the highest pay in the education industry, with an average salary of $37,750. Additionally, rehabilitation specialists earn the highest salaries in the professional with average pay of $47,971 annually.counselors earn similar levels of education than rehabilitation specialists in general. They're 2.9% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for Rehabilitation Specialists in the next 3-5 years?
Juleen Buser Ph.D.
Professor and Director, School Counseling and Coaching Programs, Rider University
Rehabilitation specialist vs. Community health counselor
A community health counselor typically provides health and welfare support to the disadvantaged members of a community. Their responsibilities revolve around devising strategies to reach out to community members, coordinating with schools and other institutions, and building positive relationships with the communities that they serve. They may also provide counseling sessions to individuals of all ages, conduct observations and assessments, perform interventions, and identify any signs of abuse or neglect, reporting to the authorities right away. Furthermore, they may refer families or individuals to other social services unit if necessary.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a rehabilitation specialist is likely to be skilled in "excellent interpersonal," "patient care," "behavior management," and "rehabilitation services," while a typical community health counselor is skilled in "behavioral health," "mental illness," "family therapy," and "eating disorders."
Community health counselors earn the highest salary when working in the health care industry, where they receive an average salary of $41,674. Comparatively, rehabilitation specialists have the highest earning potential in the professional industry, with an average salary of $47,971.When it comes to education, community health counselors tend to earn higher degree levels compared to rehabilitation specialists. In fact, they're 8.1% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.7% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Rehabilitation specialist vs. Youth care specialist
Youth care specialists are social experts who coordinate programs for children and young people who need care while being away from their own families for some reason. These specialists are required to maintain a safe environment in the community so that children will feel safe, cared for, and nurture. They must lead various seminars for youths about topics such as job readiness, financial literacy, and higher education. They must also communicate the concerns and other important information to a child's assigned social worker and provide back-up support to case managers if needed.
Types of rehabilitation specialist
Updated January 8, 2025
