PTOTOtherFrontiers in rehabilitation sciences2026

Exploring factors shaping employment outcomes of people with disabilities through the PEOP model: a scoping review.

Huiling Hu, Peter H F Ng, Karen P Y Liu and 1 others

PMID 42131470

WHAT IT FOUND

Employment for people with disabilities depends on a mix of personal skills, workplace support, and job design.

Vocational programs, accommodations, and assistive tech help, but stigma, transport gaps, and heavy workloads remain major barriers.

Key findings

01Person factors like motivation and self-advocacy skills facilitate employment, while cognitive deficits and reluctance to disclose needs hinder it.

02Environmental support, including workplace accommodations, employer attitudes, and assistive technology, significantly improves job acquisition and retention.

03Vocational rehabilitation interventions, such as supported employment and job coaching, are effective, but heavy workloads and complex tasks undermine sustainability.

STILL TO COME

How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs

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What it does not show

The included studies varied widely in design and population, making direct comparison difficult. Only two studies were randomized controlled trials; most were observational or qualitative. Publication bias may have led to an overrepresentation of studies reporting positive findings. The review included limited data from low- and middle-income countries, restricting generalizability to those contexts.

Declared interests

No specific funding sources or conflicts of interest were declared in the provided text.

The easy way to misread this

Do not assume that any single intervention guarantees employment success. The review shows that outcomes depend on the interaction of person, environment, and occupation factors; a strong individual skill set may still fail if workplace accommodations or employer attitudes are unsupportive.

Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →