Vernacular matters.

Our CompNewsNetwork service ran a story last week that commemorated a decade of service by the Army's Wounded Warrior Program. The system, referred to by the Army as AW2, provides support and assistance for veterans wounded while serving our nation. As I read the article, there were a number of things that stood out to me; important items that align very closely with my own calls for reform within the workers' compensation industry.

Originally established in 2004 as the Disabled Soldier Support System, the Army Wounded Warrior program employs more than 200 Advocates at Army and Veterans Affairs facilities throughout the country. These AW2 Advocates "work with each soldier to anticipate challenges, identify programs and benefits and ensure continuity of care throughout the recovery and transition process." According to the Army, the AW2 program today "provides personalized support to more than 24,000 Soldiers and Veterans throughout the recovery and transition process" and "AW2 transition professionals" have "impacted almost every aspect of the recovering Soldier's experience, from the Comprehensive Transition Plan (CTP) to career and employment readiness to adaptive reconditioning to community support resources."

For regular readers, this might have a familiar ring.

As many of you will recall, I have been actively campaigning for both a new name and process realignment for the workers' compensation industry. I believe that words have meaning and can hold significant impact on setting proper expectations. To that end, the workers' compensation industry should be called Workers' Recovery; adjustors would become Recovery Specialists. Injured workers' would become Recovering Workers. The entire system should be redesigned to center around an integrated Return to Function mentality.

Words really do make a difference, and it appears the Army has embraced that reality. The original name of the program, the Disabled Soldier Support System, established, in my mind anyway, a very negative expectation that steered us to an expectation of dependency. They renamed the program the following year, and while "Wounded Warrior Program" does not in itself issue images of recovery potential, it far more clearly categorizes these men and women for who they really are; wounded warriors, and heroes to be honored and respected for their sacrifice.

Elsewhere, the Army uses all the proper terminology necessary to define positive expectations for these veterans. "Advocates", "transition specialists", "recovery and transition process", "recovering soldier" and "career and employment readiness" are all terms that establish a clear vision of desired function and results.

Compare that to the nomenclature used by our industry: "Claims Specialist", "Adjustor", "Field Case Manager", "Disability Manager" and my personal fav, "Injury Coordinator".

Makes you feel all warm and fuzzy, doesn't it? Do we see a pattern here?

In the United States, the military has, on the whole, seen the highest percentage of horrific on the job injuries in the past decade, with the severity of those injuries being far worse than what we normally see in the civilian world. Technological and medical advancements mean that men and women who would have died on the battlefield in previous wars are being saved, and then left to deal with the significant ramifications of their wounds. Some will never be able to fully transition, or return to a working and productive role. Still, the positive tone and emphasis on "transition and recovery" gives them at minimum a chance at restoring their dignity and human value. Of course it is not just the words that are making the difference. It is also the actions behind the words; but those words still clearly define the proper goals and set the appropriate recovery expectations for all players in the system. Those positive expectations are a crucial element to achieve whatever recovery is possible. We owe them that, and so much more.

The vernacular matters. In the future world of Workers' Recovery, we owe the civilian injured no less an opportunity.

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