After you have addressed your medical needs, by learning the activities of daily living and mobility skills to prevent medical complications, and returned to a stable living environment with the necessary social skills and home modifications, your third and final goal to leading a successful life with TBI is returning to or achieving a new level of 'productivity'. Productivity provides the structure and the ability to set and achieve realistic goals, needed for successful living. Productivity is the goal of vocational therapy and the vocational rehabilitation specialist. Productivity, in some form, can and should be achieved by every person with TBI.

     Although the emphasis of vocational therapy has been securing gainful employment, this is not its only goal and "work" is not the only measure of productivity. Productivity simply means 'doing something for a purpose that you value' and deriving a sense of satisfaction and self-esteem from the activity. Although productivity of course includes employment in the traditional sense, it also includes education and avocational activities, group memberships, family and community participation, and all activities where a group of people engage in self-directed activities. Thinking about and setting productivity goals early in your rehabilitation process will help you achieve those goals.