A Decision Aid to Support Vocational Rehabilitation Professionals Offering Tailored Care to Benefit Recipients with a Long-Term Work Disability: A Feasibility Study.
Christa J C de Geus, Maaike A Huysmans, H Jolanda van Rijssen and 3 others
PMID 37036619WHAT IT FOUND
Vocational rehabilitation professionals found a new decision aid helpful for spotting return-to-work barriers, with all ten agreeing it improved this step.
However, it did not help them choose suitable interventions, with six of ten neutral on this. The tool is feasible for assessment but not yet for prescribing care.
Key findings
01All ten VR professionals agreed that using the decision aid improved identifying the problems in different domains of life of the client compared to usual care.
02The decision aid did not improve selecting suitable VR interventions for the client compared to usual care, with six of ten VR professionals neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
03Clients appreciated that the VR professional already had information about their situation before the start of the meeting and felt they had the opportunity to explain their answers.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
Selection bias is likely because participating professionals were motivated and selected clients based on factors like educational level, contrary to instructions. The study was short, often covering only the first or second meeting, so it did not assess long-term outcomes or the actual delivery of interventions. The sample was small (10 professionals, 32 clients) and from a specific Dutch context, limiting generalizability. The decision aid was built in Excel, which was slow and caused technical difficulties, potentially affecting feasibility.
Declared interests
Funded by the Dutch Institute of Employee Benefit Schemes (UWV).
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume the decision aid improves the quality of intervention selection. While it helped identify barriers, six of ten professionals were neutral on whether it improved selecting suitable VR interventions, and only 17 of 32 clients received interventions that matched the aid's suggestions.