Facilitators and Barriers to Sustainable Employment After Spinal Cord Injury or Acquired Brain Injury: The Person's Perspective.
Katarzyna Karcz, Barbara Schiffmann, Urban Schwegler and 2 others
PMID 36188977WHAT IT FOUND
People with spinal cord or acquired brain injury described sustainable work as depending on accessible, flexible workplaces, supportive colleagues, and confidence to explain their needs.
Insurance delays and invisible fatigue were major barriers.
Key findings
01Participants described factors that helped or hindered staying employed across personal, impairment-related and environmental areas.
02Most participants named work organization, self-advocacy and communication, and a supportive social environment as key facilitators; inaccessible workplaces, inflexible conditions and poor communication were key barriers.
03Condition-specific barriers included SCI secondary health conditions and ABI invisibility and fatigue.
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
This is a qualitative study of perceptions, so it does not test whether any factor causes or prevents job loss. The sample was positively selected: most participants were still employed, and the paper says few unemployed people were recruited. The participant count is unclear because the paper states 29 persons with SCI and 22 persons with ABI participated, but also refers to 40 out of 52 participants. Findings come from the Swiss social security and labor market, so they may not fit countries with different insurance, workplace adaptation and disability pension rules. Only people with SCI or ABI were interviewed, not employers, insurers or health professionals, so the study captures one side of the workplace relationship.
Declared interests
The work was funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation. The authors declare no commercial or financial relationships that could be a potential conflict of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these themes as proof that workplace adjustments or self-advocacy training improve employment. This study reports participants' perceptions, and most participants were already employed, so it does not test whether any factor causes sustainable work.