'Yes, I've got the job, but my challenge is keeping the job': an evaluation of a new pathway to open employment to meet the needs of people with acquired brain injury in Australia.
{"title":"'Yes, I've got the job, but my challenge is keeping the job': an evaluation of a new pathway to open employment to meet the needs of people with acquired brain injury in Australia.","authors":"Em Bould, Libby Callaway, Natasha K Brusco","doi":"10.1017/BrImp.2022.6","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background and objectives: </strong>In Australia, people with disability continue to experience low employment rates (48%), compared to the national average (79%), and employment is even lower (30%) for people with acquired brain injury (ABI). This paper evaluates a pilot study of a new mainstream employment pathway following ABI, called Employment CoLab.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Employment CoLab was piloted across multiple industries using a mix of reasonable employer adjustments, insurance-funded supports and/or access to capacity-building supports. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with four stakeholders; (1) Employees with ABI (<i>n</i> = 5, age 31-49 years, time since injury M(R) = 11(4-26) years); (2) Employers/co-workers (<i>n</i> = 3); (3) Allied health professionals/vocational providers (<i>n</i> = 4); and (4) Injury insurance funders who hold portfolio responsibility for disability employment (<i>n</i> = 5). An explorative economic evaluation was also conducted to compare the cost to the funder for Employment CoLab compared to traditional employment pathways.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Employment CoLab offered a new approach for people with ABI to gain and sustain open employment. Four major themes were identified from participant interviews: valuing employment and diversity; barriers to mainstream employment; reflections on being employed; and being supported over time. The economic evaluation was unable to detect if the pathway was, or was not, less costly when compared to traditional employment pathways.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Employment CoLab is a person-centred collaborative approach which, together with effective social disability insurance approaches, has built new opportunities for inclusive mainstream economic participation following ABI.</p>","PeriodicalId":56329,"journal":{"name":"Brain Impairment","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.1000,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Brain Impairment","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1017/BrImp.2022.6","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2022/5/30 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"CLINICAL NEUROLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background and objectives: In Australia, people with disability continue to experience low employment rates (48%), compared to the national average (79%), and employment is even lower (30%) for people with acquired brain injury (ABI). This paper evaluates a pilot study of a new mainstream employment pathway following ABI, called Employment CoLab.
Method: Employment CoLab was piloted across multiple industries using a mix of reasonable employer adjustments, insurance-funded supports and/or access to capacity-building supports. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with four stakeholders; (1) Employees with ABI (n = 5, age 31-49 years, time since injury M(R) = 11(4-26) years); (2) Employers/co-workers (n = 3); (3) Allied health professionals/vocational providers (n = 4); and (4) Injury insurance funders who hold portfolio responsibility for disability employment (n = 5). An explorative economic evaluation was also conducted to compare the cost to the funder for Employment CoLab compared to traditional employment pathways.
Results: Employment CoLab offered a new approach for people with ABI to gain and sustain open employment. Four major themes were identified from participant interviews: valuing employment and diversity; barriers to mainstream employment; reflections on being employed; and being supported over time. The economic evaluation was unable to detect if the pathway was, or was not, less costly when compared to traditional employment pathways.
Conclusions: Employment CoLab is a person-centred collaborative approach which, together with effective social disability insurance approaches, has built new opportunities for inclusive mainstream economic participation following ABI.
期刊介绍:
The journal addresses topics related to the aetiology, epidemiology, treatment and outcomes of brain impairment with a particular focus on the implications for functional status, participation, rehabilitation and quality of life. Disciplines reflect a broad multidisciplinary scope and include neuroscience, neurology, neuropsychology, psychiatry, clinical psychology, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, speech pathology, social work, and nursing. Submissions are welcome across the full range of conditions that affect brain function (stroke, tumour, progressive neurological illnesses, dementia, traumatic brain injury, epilepsy, etc.) throughout the lifespan.