A monetary value that can be placed on pain management programs is that the majority of the participants are able to return to the workforce. At the Hermann pain center, going back to work is one of the top goals for pain camp participants. During our first meeting with a patient, we try to understand the individual's strengths and weaknesses. The patients often are not able to return to the same type of work that they did before the injury. But they can use their stable employment history, good references and ability to learn quickly to sell themselves for other positions.
Many injuries result from jobs that require heavy physical labor.
Too often the patient lacks the job skills for less strenuous work. With only a high school education, Hughes found himself in such a situation. At the urging of Dr. Kimberly Henderson, one of the Hermann pain center's staff physicians, he applied for educational assistance from the Texas Rehabilitation Commission. In January, he began a two-year program at San Jacinto College. He plans to finish a degree in accounting at Texas Southern University.