Evaluation of Active Labor Market Policy Reform: Employment Outcomes of Vocational Rehabilitation Services.
Renee Pesor, Kaire Põder
PMID 36964327WHAT IT FOUND
Completing vocational rehabilitation was linked to 2.6 months longer employment for those who finished the service compared to those who dropped out.
The benefit was smaller for people with mental impairments and larger for those already employed at entry.
Key findings
01Completing the vocational rehabilitation service was associated with a 2.6-month increase in post-rehabilitation employment duration compared to discontinuing it.
02The positive effect on employment duration was smaller for individuals with only mental impairments, who experienced about 1.3 months shorter employment compared to similar people who discontinued the service.
03Individuals who were already employed when entering the service saw a larger benefit, with about 4 months longer post-rehabilitation employment compared to those who discontinued.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study lacked a true control group, comparing only those who completed services against those who dropped out, which may not reflect the effect of receiving no service at all. The analysis did not distinguish between specific types of therapies or services received, so it is unclear which components drove the employment outcomes. The matched sample excluded individuals with permanent incapacity, limiting generalizability to more severely impaired populations. Employment duration was used as a proxy for outcomes like job quality or well-being, which were not directly measured. The study could not account for all potential confounding factors, as it relied on available register data and propensity score matching on a limited set of covariates.
Declared interests
The study was funded by the Estonian Ministry of Social Affairs.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the 2.6-month gain as evidence that vocational rehabilitation works better than no intervention. The study compared those who completed the service to those who dropped out, not to a group that received no service, so the absolute benefit of the program itself remains unclear.