Employment Status Following Heart Transplantation: Data From the Danish Nationwide Social Service Payment Register During 20 years.

Most studies on vocational rehabilitation after heart transplantation (HTX) are based on self-reported data. Danish registries include weekly longitudinal information on all public transfer payments. We intended to describe 20-year trends in employment status for the Danish heart-transplant recipients, and examine the influence of multimorbidity and socioeconomic position (SEP). Linking registry and Scandiatransplant data (1994-2018), we conducted a study in recipients of working age (19-63 years). The cohort contained 492 recipients (79% males) and the median (IQR) age was 52 years (43-57 years). Five years after HTX, 30% of the survived recipients participated on the labor market; 9% were in a flexible job with reduced health-related working capacity. Moreover, 60% were retired and 10% eligible for labor market participation were unemployed. Recipients with multimorbidity had a higher age and a lower prevalence of employment. Five years after HTX, characteristics of recipients with labor market participation were: living alone (27%) versus cohabitation (73%); low (36%) versus medium-high (64%) educational level; low (13%) or medium-high (87%) income group. Heart-transplant recipients with multimorbidity have a higher age and a lower prevalence of employment. Socioeconomically disadvantaged recipients had a lower prevalence of labor market participation, despite being younger compared with the socioeconomically advantaged.

Good psychiatric management for borderline personality disorder: A qualitative study of its implementation in a supported employment team.

INTRODUCTION: People with borderline personality disorder have difficulties with work. The Individual Placement and Support model has shown its worldwide effectiveness in terms of vocational rehabilitation for individuals with psychiatric disorders. However, only a few recent studies have explored its results for people with personality disorders, and the findings were mitigated. Additionally, Individual Placement and Support job coaches reported difficulties in supporting this population. An evidence-based psychotherapeutic method, also applicable in a case management context, called Good Psychiatric Management for borderline personality disorder, could potentially overcome these obstacles. This study aimed to evaluate the initial integration of Good Psychiatric Management in Individual Placement and Support practice. METHODS: Individual Placement and Support practitioners of Lausanne University Hospital, Switzerland, were trained in Good Psychiatric Management in January 2022. Five of them participated in a focus group to collect their impressions about the training, and six were interviewed 9 months later to assess the initial adoption of Good Psychiatric Management into their practice. Thematic analyses were conducted. RESULTS: Job coaches were positive about this new tool. All of them found it useful and beneficial both for them and their patients. They were able to follow the main Good Psychiatric Management principles in their practice However, the findings also suggested some additional improvements in the implementation process. CONCLUSIONS: Integrating Good Psychiatric Management in Individual Placement and Support seems feasible, and the team who appreciated it adopted it. The method offers new perspectives in community support for people living with borderline personality disorder.

Individual Placement and Support for persons with alcohol and drug addiction in a Swedish context (IPS-ADAS): study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Employment is a vital source for experiencing well-being and lowering the risk of long-term social marginalisation and poverty. For persons with alcohol and drug addiction, it may also improve sobriety. However, the unemployment situation for this group reflects the knowledge gap in effective interventions to support employment. While Individual Placement and Support (IPS) is recognised as evidence-based supported employment for those with serious mental health problems, no scientific evidence for the target group of addiction exists to date. The aim of the present IPS for Alcohol and Drug Addiction in Sweden (IPS-ADAS) trial is to study whether IPS has an effect on gaining employment for this group. METHODS: The IPS-ADAS trial is a multisite, pragmatic, parallel, and single-blinded, superiority randomised controlled trial (RCT). Participants (N = 330) will be randomly assigned (1:1) and participate in IPS plus treatment as usual within Addiction Services (IPS + TAU) or Traditional Vocational Rehabilitation (TVR) available plus TAU (TVR + TAU) for 12 months. The principle of intention-to-treat (ITT) will be applied. The hypothesis is that a significantly larger proportion of IPS + TAU participants will be employed for > 1 day (primary outcome), reach employment sooner, work more hours and longer periods of time, and have a higher income as compared to TVR + TAU participants at 18-month follow-up. We further anticipate that those who benefit from IPS + TAU will use less alcohol and drugs, experience better health, and use less care and support, including support from the justice system, in comparison to TVR + TAU participants, at 6, 12, and 18 months. A supplementary process evaluation, using the IPS Fidelity Scale (25 items) and adhered interviews will address delivery and receipt of the IPS as well as contextual hinders and barriers for coproduction and implementation. Working age (18-65), willingness to work, unemployment, participation in an information meeting about the RCT, treatment for addiction diagnosis, and being financially supported by welfare, constitute eligible criteria. DISCUSSION: A primary study on the effectiveness of IPS on employment for the new target group of addictions will add to the international IPS knowledge base and inform national policy to include the underrepresented group in working life. TRIAL REGISTRATION: WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform ISRCTN10492363. Registered on 14 August 2023.

The impact of customized employment on the competitive integrated employment outcomes of transition age youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities: A randomized controlled trial study.

BACKGROUND: Customized employment (CE) is recognized in the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (2014) as a strategy for promoting competitive integrated employment. However, the existing body of evidence supporting CE is mainly descriptive rather than experimental research. OBJECTIVE: This study examined the impact of CE on the employment outcomes, hours worked per week, and wages of transition-age youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities. METHOD: The outcomes of transition-age youth participating in a CE intervention were compared to those receiving treatment-as-usual using a randomized controlled trial design. RESULTS: Participants receiving CE were significantly more likely to secure competitive integrated employment than controls who received treatment-as-usual. Participants in the intervention and control conditions earned similar wages. Participants in the control condition worked more hours per week than those in CE. CONCLUSION: The findings from this study demonstrate the effectiveness of CE to assist transition-age youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities in obtaining competitive integrated employment, but future research is needed to examine factors impacting weekly hours and wages of participants in CE.

Development of a Job Retention Vocational Rehabilitation Intervention for People with Multiple Sclerosis Following the Person-Based Approach.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the process of developing a job retention vocational rehabilitation intervention for people with multiple sclerosis. DESIGN: We used the person-based approach, to develop interventions through an iterative process incorporating stakeholders' views, resulting in an intervention that is likely to be more acceptable, contextually relevant, and implementable for end-users. Phase 1 combined the results of a systematic review and interview study to develop the guiding principles and intervention logic model. Phase 2 involved conceptual testing and refining the intervention with stakeholder feedback. We present the final intervention following the template for intervention description and replication. PARTICIPANTS: We recruited 20 participants for Phase 1 (10 people with multiple sclerosis, four employers, six healthcare professionals), and 10 stakeholders (three people with multiple sclerosis, seven healthcare professionals) for Phase 2 to contribute to the intervention refinement process. RESULTS: Stakeholders described the need for an individually tailored intervention to support people with multiple sclerosis to manage symptoms and workplace relationships. A stepped-care approach and remote support were deemed essential. The resulting intervention involves an initial assessment of employment needs, vocational goal setting, up to 10 h of tailored support (e.g., reasonable adjustments, employer engagement, legal rights), and a final review to discuss future steps. People with multiple sclerosis can include their employer for advice to optimise the management of the employee with multiple sclerosis at work. CONCLUSION: The person-based approach provided a rigorous framework to systematically understand the vocational needs of people with multiple sclerosis and develop a vocational rehabilitation intervention.

The ROCK trial-a multidisciplinary Rehabilitation intervention for sudden Out-of-hospital Cardiac arrest survivors focusing on return-to-worK: a pragmatic randomized controlled trial protocol.

INTRODUCTION: Most cardiac arrest survivors are classified with mild to moderate cognitive impairment; roughly, 50% experience long-term neurocognitive impairment. Postarrest challenges complicate participation in society and are associated with social issues such as failure to resume social activities and impaired return to work. The effectiveness of rehabilitation interventions for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survivors are sparsely described, but the body of evidence describes high probabilities of survivors not returning to work, returning to jobs with modified job descriptions, returning to part-time employment, and often in combination with extensive unmet rehabilitation needs. Hence, there is a need to develop and test a pragmatic individual targeted intervention to facilitate return to work (RTW) in survivors of OHCA. The overall aim of the ROCK trial is to evaluate the effectiveness of a comprehensive individually tailored multidisciplinary rehabilitation intervention for survivors of OHCA on RTW compared to usual care. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The ROCK trial is a two-arm parallel group multicentre investigator-initiated pragmatic randomized controlled superiority trial with primary endpoint measured 12 months after the cardiac arrest. Adult survivors who were part of the labour force prior to the OCHA and had at least 2 years until they are qualified to receive retirement state pensions are eligible for inclusion. Survivors will be randomized 1:1 to usual care group or usual care plus a comprehensive tailored rehabilitation intervention focusing on supporting RTW. After comprehensive assessment of individual rehabilitation needs, the intervention is ongoingly coordinated within a multidisciplinary rehabilitation team, and the intervention can be delivered for up until 12 months. Data for the primary outcome will be obtained from the national register on social transfer payments. The primary outcome will be analysed using logistic regression assessing RTW status at 12 months adjusting for the intervention and age at OHCA, sex, marital status, and occupation prior to OHCA. DISCUSSION: The ROCK trial is the first RCT to investigate the effectiveness of a rehabilitation intervention focusing on return to work after cardiac arrest. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05173740. Registered on May 2018.

Patient-report and caregiver-report measures of rehabilitation service use following acquired brain injury: a systematic review.

OBJECTIVE: To review patient-report/caregiver-report measures of rehabilitation service use following acquired brain injury (ABI). DATA SOURCES: Medline, APA PsycINFO, Embase and CINAHL were searched on November 2021 and November 2022. Authors were contacted if measures were not included in manuscripts/appendices. STUDY SELECTION: Included articles were empirical research or a research protocol, available in English and described measures of patient report/caregiver report of rehabilitation service use post-ABI via quantitative or qualitative methods. Two reviewers independently screened 5290 records using DistillerSR. Discrepancies were resolved by team adjudication. DATA EXTRACTION: Data extraction was piloted with high levels of agreement (k=.94). Data were extracted by a single member with team meetings to seek guidance as needed. Data included administration characteristics (reporter, mode of administration, recall period), psychometric evidence and dimensions assessed (types of services, setting, frequency, duration, intensity, qualitative aspects). DATA SYNTHESIS: One hundred and fifty-two measures were identified from 85 quantitative, 56 qualitative and 3 psychometric studies. Psychometric properties were reported for four measures, all of which focused on satisfaction. Most measures inquired about the type of rehabilitation services used, with more than half assessing functional (eg, physical therapy) and behavioural health rehabilitation services, but fewer than half assessing community and academic reintegration (eg, special education, vocational rehabilitation) or cognitive (eg, neuropsychology) services. Fewer than half assessed qualitative aspects (eg, satisfaction). Recall periods ranged from 1 month to 'since the ABI event' or focused on current use. Of measures that could be accessed (n=71), many included a limited checklist of types of services used. Very few measures assessed setting, frequency, intensity or duration. CONCLUSIONS: Despite widespread interest, the vast majority of measures have not been validated and are limited in scope. Use of gold-standard psychometric methods to develop and validate a comprehensive patient-report/caregiver-report measure of rehabilitation service use would have wide-ranging implications for improving rehabilitation research in ABI.

Sequences of vocational rehabilitation services in Germany: a cohort study.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to describe sequences of vocational rehabilitation services among individuals with approved vocational rehabilitation in Germany and to identify typical service sequences. METHODS: We used administrative data on vocational rehabilitation services and questionnaire data on health and work ability to describe frequencies and sequences of vocational rehabilitation services financed by the Federal German Pension Insurance. Through sequence analysis, we were able to map the service sequences. We did cluster analyses to identify typical different service sequences. RESULTS: Our sample included 1,652 individuals with 2,584 services. Integration services and two-year vocational retraining were the most common services. We could identify three different service clusters around integration services: shorter ones, followed by employer benefits and without employer benefits. We found two different clusters around two-year vocational retraining: shorter and longer clusters. Two-year vocational retraining was more often initiated by preparatory services and followed by employer benefits than integration services. Longer services in both clusters were associated with better baseline data for physical health, work ability, risk of future work disability, and younger age than shorter services. People in two-year-vocational retraining reported at baseline better general health, better work ability, low risk of future work disability, and less mental illness compared to people in integration services. CONCLUSIONS: Multiple services, that is, sequences of services, were more likely to occur among individuals with more complex services like two-year vocational retraining. Utilization of complex services and longer services was influenced by health, age, risk of future work disability, and education. TRIAL REGISTRATION: German Clinical Trials Register DRKS00009910, registration 25/01/2016.

The societal impact of individual placement and support implementation on employment outcomes for young adults receiving temporary health-related welfare benefits: a difference-in-differences study.

BACKGROUND: Individual placement and support (IPS) is an evidence-based practice that helps individuals with mental illness gain and retain employment. IPS was implemented for young adults at a municipality level through a cross-sectoral collaboration between specialist mental healthcare, primary mental healthcare, and the government funded employment service (NAV). We investigated whether IPS implementation had a causal effect on employment outcomes for all young adults in receipt of a temporary health-related rehabilitation (work assessment allowance, WAA) welfare benefit, measured at the societal level compared to municipalities that did not implement IPS. METHOD: We used a difference in differences design to estimate the effects of IPS implementation on the outcome of workdays per year using longitudinal registry data. We estimate the average effect of being exposed to IPS implementation during four-years of implementation compared to ten control municipalities without IPS for all WAA recipients. RESULTS: We found a significant, positive, causal effect on societal level employment outcomes of 5.6 (p = 0.001, 95% CI 2.7-8.4) increased workdays per year per individual, equivalent to 12.7 years of increased work in the municipality where IPS was implemented compared to municipalities without IPS. Three years after initial exposure to IPS implementation individuals worked, on average, 10.5 more days per year equating to 23.8 years of increased work. CONCLUSIONS: Implementing IPS as a cross sectoral collaboration at a municipality level has a significant, positive, causal, societal impact on employment outcomes for all young adults in receipt of a temporary health-related rehabilitation welfare benefit.

Evaluative judgement in practice education: How does the ability to judge the quality of work impact placement performance?

INTRODUCTION: Occupational therapy students need to be ready to work autonomously in a range of environments as soon as they complete their degree. Practice education experiences are considered key to students developing the competencies that autonomous work requires. To function autonomously in practice environments, it is argued that practitioners need to be able to judge the quality of their own work and the work of others. This is referred to as evaluative judgement. However, there is limited empirical literature relating to evaluative judgement and even less exploring the concept within occupational therapy. METHODS: This study used qualitative methods, seeking to understand the evaluative judgements of clinical practice made by third- and fourth-year occupational therapy students during practice education. RESULTS: Twenty-one interviews were conducted with third- (n = 10) and fourth-year occupational therapy students (n = 1), university support staff supporting practice education (n = 4), and practice education supervisors (n = 5) at one Australian university. Practice education grades and documentation were also used as data. Data were analysed thematically, and two themes, each with three sub-themes, were identified: students coming to understand expected standards, with the following sub-themes: students attuning to cues, cues that inform supervisors about students' meeting the standards, and barriers and frustrations to understanding standards; and practising and developing evaluative judgement, with the following sub-themes: making comparisons, acting on feedback, and reflective practice. CONCLUSIONS: Practice education experiences provide many context-specific opportunities for students to develop their evaluative judgement. Students may be supported to come to know what quality work looks like by offering scaffolded opportunities to develop evaluative judgement in university and practice education settings.

Constructing therapeutic support and negotiating competing agendas: A discourse analysis of vocational advice provided to individuals who are absent from work due to ill-health.

Work participation is known to benefit people's overall health and wellbeing, but accessing vocational support during periods of sickness absence to facilitate return-to-work can be challenging for many people. In this study, we explored how vocational advice was delivered by trained vocational support workers (VSWs) to people who had been signed-off from work by their General Practitioner (GP), as part of a feasibility study testing a vocational advice intervention. We investigated the discursive and interactional strategies employed by VSWs and people absent from work, to pursue their joint and respective goals. Theme-oriented discourse analysis was carried out on eight VSW consultations. These consultations were shown to be complex interactions, during which VSWs utilised a range of strategies to provide therapeutic support in discussions about work. These included; signalling empathy with the person's perspective; positively evaluating their personal qualities and prior actions; reflecting individuals' views back to them to show they had been heard and understood; fostering a collaborative approach to action-planning; and attempting to reassure individuals about their return-to-work concerns. Some individuals were reluctant to engage in return-to-work planning, resulting in back-and-forth interactional negotiations between theirs and the VSW's individual goals and agendas. This led to VSWs putting in considerable interactional 'work' to subtly shift the discussion towards return-to-work planning. The discursive strategies we have identified have implications for training health professionals to facilitate work-orientated conversations with their patients, and will also inform training provided to VSWs ahead of a randomised controlled trial.

Evaluation of Active Labor Market Policy Reform: Employment Outcomes of Vocational Rehabilitation Services.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of the Estonian active labor market reform in 2016, which introduced a new policy concerning vocational rehabilitation services. As a research question, we investigate how such services may have affected the employment outcomes of people with mental and/or physical impairments. METHODS: Our sample includes 9244 people from 2016 to 2020, with a mean age of 46 years. Due to multiple entries to the services, we have more than 11,000 cases with over 100,000 monthly observations. We use propensity score matching in combination with fixed effects panel regressions to analyze how the completion of the scheduled rehabilitation plan affected monthly employment duration. RESULTS: Our findings indicate that completing the rehabilitation service results on average in 2.6 months longer post-rehabilitation employment, compared to matched individuals who discontinued the service. This effect was larger when already employed and male participants entered the service, while weaker effects were observed in the case of individuals with only mental disabilities. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, we conclude that while completing the scheduled rehabilitation plan has a positive effect on employment outcomes, still maintaining employment status seems to remain a challenge, based on the relatively modest effect sizes. Thus, we question the economic arguments behind the reform.

A Decision Aid to Support Vocational Rehabilitation Professionals Offering Tailored Care to Benefit Recipients with a Long-Term Work Disability: A Feasibility Study.

PURPOSE: This feasibility study focusses on the implementation and use of a decision aid, which supports vocational rehabilitation (VR) professionals in helping clients with a disability pension return to work in practice. The decision aid shows an overview of the clients' return to work barriers and suggests suitable VR interventions based on these barriers. METHODS: The study population consisted of VR professionals working at the Dutch Social Security Institute and their clients receiving a (partial) work disability pension. The feasibility was measured with concepts of the Linnan and Steckler framework and the attitude, social norm and self-efficacy model. Data were collected using questionnaires, checklists and qualitative interviews. RESULTS: Ten professionals participated in this study. Fifty-four clients were asked to fill in the questionnaire of the decision aid and 32 clients received VR care based on the decision aid. In general, VR professionals and clients were satisfied with the decision aid and perceived a few barriers for using the decision aid. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that it is feasible to implement and use the decision aid. To improve the implementation of this decision aid, it should be implemented in digital systems used by professionals to improve efficiency of working with the decision aid.

How can the work activity point of view inform territorial development projects?

BACKGROUND: The heuristic potential of work activity-focused territory analyses has yet to be explored in depth. Instead of viewing territories as a product of their actors, the prevailing approaches rely on statistical indicators to view them "from above". OBJECTIVE: To understand how work activity acts upon a territory and transforms it, and to discuss what the main indicators used to characterize territories reveal and conceal. METHODS: Case studies led on two territories, each in a different industry. One on transportation in a sparsely populated "low density" area; the other in an industrial district, focusing on its "high activity rate" cork industry. In the first case, work activity analyses were led with drivers and mobility designers, including systematic observations and interviews, in the context of an endeavour to redesign a local transport network. In the second case, work activity analyses led among cork stopper choosers were followed with an integrative literature review of indicators about the cork industry and its health impacts. RESULTS: This territory analysis highlights: (i) traces of bus drivers' work activity on the mitigation of inequalities in access to public transportation; (ii) "absent indicators" regarding cork choosers' work activity and its health impacts, stressing the existence of a development agenda for this territory focused on cork processing rather than on those who perform it. CONCLUSION: Our analysis of territorialization processes through the lens of work activity signposts a path for research-action seeking to associate territorial development with improvements in the working conditions of citizen workers.

Individual placement and support for young adults: One-year outcomes.

OBJECTIVE: Many young adults who are unemployed and not in school need support achieving employment goals. Individual Placement and Support (IPS) is an evidence-based employment practice for adults with serious mental illness, but its applicability to young adults with mental health conditions has not been well-researched. The present study prospectively assessed IPS effectiveness in a national sample of young adults enrolled in routine practice settings in the U.S. public mental health system. METHOD: Nine community agencies in five states participated in a 1-year follow-up study of young adults (aged 16-24) enrolled in IPS services. The study examined three outcomes: retention in services, employment, and education. State fidelity reviewers examined IPS fidelity using a new fidelity scale, the IPS-Y. RESULTS: In a sample of 111 participants, the mean age was 19.2, 72 (64.9%) had never worked, and 76 (68.5%) had a diagnosis of depressive and/or anxiety disorder. Participants averaged 8 months of enrollment before terminating from IPS services. During follow-up, 51 (45.9%) participants obtained a competitive job (N = 50) or paid internship (N = 1); 14 (12.6%) achieved a new education outcome. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: IPS has promising outcomes for helping young adults with mental health conditions achieve positive employment outcomes, but its effectiveness in helping young adults achieve education goals has not been demonstrated. IPS should be offered to young adults with employment goals. Targeted funding for supported education and training for IPS specialists in delivering educational supports may be necessary to ensure optimal education outcomes in IPS. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Vocational rehabilitation in persons with mental illness in India: A scoping review.

BACKGROUND: Employment has a therapeutic impact, enhances community integration and improves the quality of life of persons with mental illness (PwMI). Vocational rehabilitation (VR) models must be sensitive to existing needs and resources. Several VR models have been tested in high income countries. Mapping different VR models in India would help both practitioners and policymakers. AIM: The study aimed to comprehensively review VR models tested among PwMI in India. METHODS: We adhered to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews extension for Scoping Reviews. We included interventional studies, case studies and grey literature carried out for the VR of PwMI in India. The search was done in PubMed, PsychInfo, worldwide science and Web of Science. Google Scholar was used to supplement the search. A Boolean search using MeSH terms was carried out for the period January 2000 to December 2022. RESULTS: A total of twelve studies (one feasibility study, four case studies, four institute-based intervention studies and two studies reporting NGOs' role) were included in the final synthesis. The studies included in the review were either quasi-experimental studies or case based. Types of VR included supported employment or place and train or train and place models, case management and prevocational skills training. CONCLUSION: Limited studies exist on VR in PwMI from India. Most studies assessed a restricted set of outcomes. The experiences of NGOs should be published so that practical challenges can be understood. There is a need for public-private partnerships in designing and testing services and should involve all the stakeholders.

A Scoping Review on the Use of Machine Learning in Return-to-Work Studies: Strengths and Weaknesses.

PURPOSE: Decisions to increase work participation must be informed and timely to improve return to work (RTW). The implementation of research into clinical practice relies on sophisticated yet practical approaches such as machine learning (ML). The objective of this study is to explore the evidence of machine learning in vocational rehabilitation and discuss the strengths and areas for improvement in the field. METHODS: We used the PRISMA guidelines and the Arksey and O'Malley framework. We searched Ovid Medline, CINAHL, and PsycINFO; with hand-searching and use of the Web of Science for the final articles. We included studies that are peer-reviewed, published within the last 10 years to consider contemporary material, implemented a form of "machine learning" or "learning health system", undertaken in a vocational rehabilitation setting, and has employment as a specific outcome. RESULTS: 12 studies were analyzed. The most commonly studied population was musculoskeletal injuries or health conditions. Most of the studies came from Europe and most were retrospective studies. The interventions were not always reported or specified. ML was used to identify different work-related variables that were predictive of return to work. However, ML approaches were varied and no standard or predominant ML approach was evident. CONCLUSIONS: ML offers a potentially beneficial approach to identifying predictors of RTW. While ML uses a complex calculation and estimation, ML complements other elements of evidence-based practice such as the clinician's expertise, the worker's preference and values, and contextual factors around RTW in an efficient and timely manner.

Perceived vocational support needs and return-to-work outcomes in the first 12-months post-discharge in individuals with acquired brain injury and spinal cord injury: A retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Return-to-work (RTW) is often viewed as an important outcome following acquired brain injury (ABI) and spinal cord injury (SCI), although not all individuals have vocational goals and many experience barriers to RTW. OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the relationship between RTW and psychosocial functioning at 12-months post-discharge after ABI and SCI and examined patterns of RTW according to perceived need for and receipt of vocational support. METHODS: A file audit was conducted for 69 participants with ABI (n = 44) and SCI (n = 25). Data on employment status and perceived vocational support at 3- and 12-months post-discharge, home and community participation, psychological distress, and health-related quality of life were extracted. RESULTS: Individuals in paid employment at 12-months post-discharge (22%, n = 15) reported significantly better psychosocial functioning at this timepoint compared to those not employed (78%; n = 54). For those not employed, three subgroups were identified: 1) Did not perceive the need for or receive vocational support (50%; n = 27); 2) Perceived vocational support needs were unmet (19%; n = 10); and 3) Perceived and received vocational support (31%; n = 17). Psychological distress was highest for those who perceived and received vocational support but were not employed. CONCLUSION: RTW was associated with better psychosocial functioning after acquired neurological injury. The findings highlight the need for clinicians to explore and revisit individuals' perceived need for and preferences for vocational support and monitor the psychological well-being of those with RTW goals that are not yet successful.

Evaluation of an Innovative Case Management Strategy to Improve Rehabilitation Coverage for People at High Risk of Permanent Work Disability: a Feasibility Study.

PURPOSE: Our process evaluation (trial registration: DRKS00022468) monitored the implementation of a multi-component strategy including case management aiming to improve rehabilitation coverage and work participation of people with a high risk of permanent work disability. METHODS: A risk score using administrative data, particularly on employment and welfare benefits, was employed to identify individuals with higher probability of receiving disability pension and therefore potentially needing support. These individuals were contacted by post and encouraged to phone their regional case manager if they needed assistance. Content for the intervention components was developed collaboratively with the case managers. We examined the sample reached, dose delivered, fidelity, dose received and satisfaction with the intervention. RESULTS: Out of 1074 individuals with high-risk scores were contacted, there were 57 case managements. The participants reached were in poor health, and 42.1% reported at least four diagnosed conditions, mostly musculoskeletal and mental disorders. About two-thirds (63.0%) reported poor work ability at baseline. On average, 72.5% of the content of the initial telephone contacts, 88.7% of the content of the face-to-face interviews and 45.2% of the content of the case management were delivered. The participants were highly satisfied with the various components and content of the intervention. Knowledge about rehabilitation improved significantly, with 43 of the 57 participants (75.4%) applying for rehabilitation, mainly medical rehabilitation. At the end of the case management intervention, most participants (91.7%) were still employed. CONCLUSION: The risk score offers an opportunity to screen for people with a high risk of permanent work disability. Case management participants found participation worthwhile and were significantly better informed about participation services after completing case management. More than every second participant received medical or vocational rehabilitation.