EpicRehab
A Chapter in the Matheson Story
EpicRehab represents an important chapter in the history of Matheson and the development of occupational rehabilitation.
Its roots reach back to the work of Dr. Leonard Matheson and his colleagues at Rancho Los Amigos Medical Center in California during the 1970s.
What began as an occupational rehabilitation organization evolved over several decades into research, professional education, clinical resources, and development of functional assessment approaches.
ERIC
The Employment and Rehabilitation Institute of California, known as ERIC, grew from the early work of Leonard Matheson and his colleagues.
ERIC provided functional capacity evaluation services, consultation to insurance carriers, rehabilitation services, and professional education.
In Anaheim, ERIC established a large free-standing occupational rehabilitation center and eventually developed a professional residency program.
During the 1980s, ERIC became an important setting for the development and teaching of emerging approaches to occupational rehabilitation.
Professional courses included:
- Work Capacity Evaluation
- Work Tolerance Screening
- Work Hardening
The Human Performance Laboratory
In 1990, the clinical organization evolved toward research and became the ERIC Human Performance Laboratory under Dr. Matheson's direction.
The focus increasingly turned toward understanding human performance and developing more objective approaches to functional assessment.
This period of research contributed to the continued development of functional capacity evaluation and other approaches to understanding the relationship between human performance and work demands.
EPIC
The Employment Potential Improvement Corporation, known as EPIC, was established in 1990 to make applications of the knowledge developed through the Human Performance Laboratory available beyond the research setting.
As Dr. Matheson's academic career developed, the organization evolved again.
In 1992, he joined the Program in Occupational Therapy at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
EPIC subsequently transitioned as Dr. Matheson's work moved increasingly toward research, teaching, and clinical consultation.
EpicRehab
After Dr. Matheson's university career, the organization was reorganized as EpicRehab.
EpicRehab continued the tradition of research, professional resources, publications, clinical consultation, and development of functional assessment approaches.
Its work helped preserve and distribute concepts developed through decades of occupational rehabilitation research.
A Legacy That Continues
EpicRehab is now best understood as part of the history of the Matheson approach, rather than as a current operating organization.
The work did not disappear when the organization changed.
Research and clinical concepts developed through ERIC, the Human Performance Laboratory, EPIC, and EpicRehab continue to influence functional capacity evaluation, occupational rehabilitation, assessment tools, and equipment.
Matheson Development carries one part of that legacy forward by developing and supplying practical equipment for rehabilitation professionals.
The organization may have changed, but the ideas will always continue!