Socially constructed 'value' and vocational experiences following neurological injury.
Joanna K Fadyl, Deborah Payne
PMID 26836299WHAT IT FOUND
Four people with acquired neurological injury described work value as judged by employers, not by skill alone.
Disability could be a qualification, a hidden burden, or a disqualification. Their accounts describe how worker identity can narrow job choices.
Key findings
01Participants described the employment market as having real power to determine their value as potential workers, rather than their own skills alone.
02Participants described needing to make and show an employable self, including appearance and attributes that made them seem useful in a role.
03Disability was experienced as modifying worker value, but the direction varied from a qualification to a disqualification.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
Only four people were studied. These themes cannot be assumed to apply to all people with neurological injury. The study was qualitative and did not test any vocational rehabilitation intervention. One participant did not take part in the second interview. Follow-up accounts were not available for all participants. Participants were selected for diversity from urban New Zealand. These findings may not match rural settings or other countries.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these themes as evidence that a vocational rehabilitation approach works. The study describes how four people experienced worker value. It tested no intervention and cannot show what will help patients.