The Effectiveness of a Vocational Enablement Protocol for Employees With Hearing Difficulties: Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial.
Arjenne H M Gussenhoven, Johannes R Anema, Birgit I Witte and 2 others
PMID 29298599WHAT IT FOUND
The vocational enablement package did not reduce employees' need for recovery compared with usual care after 12 months.
Self-acceptance improved by 0.24 points on a 1 to 5 scale, a small change; distress and self-efficacy did not differ.
Key findings
01The vocational enablement package did not significantly reduce need for recovery at 12 months compared with usual care.
02The intervention produced a significant overall effect on self-acceptance, with a 0.24 point difference favoring the intervention group at 12 months on a 1 to 5 scale.
03The prevalence of high need for recovery did not differ significantly between groups over follow-up, despite falling from 52.9% to 40.0% in the intervention group and rising from 44.1% to 47.5% in the control group.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The primary outcome was need for recovery, and 26% of participants scored 0 to 20 on the 0 to 100 scale at baseline, which may have left little room for improvement. Participants and intervention providers could not be blinded, which can affect reported outcomes. Loss to follow-up was 15%, and the authors note that more motivated participants may have remained in the study. The sample size was powered for the primary outcome, not for secondary outcomes such as self-acceptance. The control group was older at baseline, mean 53.8 years, than the intervention group, mean 50.7 years. The Vocational Enablement Protocol included many components, so the effect of any single component cannot be separated. The authors report that 29% of advice and instructions were perceived as implemented after 6 months, which may have limited the intervention's effect.
Declared interests
The supplied publication metadata indicates non-U.S. government research support. The supplied article text does not include a funding or conflicts of interest declaration.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that the Vocational Enablement Protocol works because self-acceptance improved. The primary outcome, need for recovery, showed no clear effect, and the self-acceptance change was 0.24 points on a 1 to 5 scale.