The findings of a survey examining employment after disability suggested strategies that can be implemented by the healthcare system, employers, and policymakers to support employment of people with physical disabilities.
The researchers, led by a CPO, recruited a national sample of people with physical disabilities from panels assembled by a market research organization in the United States; 1,309 were working and 491 were not.
The researchers evaluated the likelihood of employment (Model 1) and maintaining employment (Model 2) after disability onset using Poisson regression. The objective was to describe and evaluate associations between personal and health-related factors with employment after disability, and between facilitators, barriers, and work-related external factors with maintaining a longest held job after disability.
In Model 1, older age, decreased ability to pay bills on time, and assistive device use were associated with decreased likelihood of employment after disability onset. Non-Black minority identification, fatigue, and higher physical function were associated with increased likelihood of employment.
For Model 2, the likelihood of maintaining a longest held job was associated with acquiring a disability at work, receipt of job accommodations, valuing opportunities for advancement and health benefits, having a helpful living situation, and helpful human resource attitudes. Decreased likelihood of maintaining a longest held job after disability onset was associated with job dissatisfaction and supervisors’ attitudes.
The researchers concluded that the results highlight opportunities for employers to focus efforts on job accommodations and support in the maintenance of employment after disability.
The open-access study, “Facilitators and barriers to employment for people with adult-onset physical disabilities: results from a U.S.A. survey,” was published in the journal Work.
