This selective review provides an overview of salient research findings related to employers' attitudes towards disability and prospective influences on employers to improve employment outcomes of people with disabilities. Research studies included for review are mainly those which investigated employer attitudes towards disability as predispositions to hiring people with disability. Selected studies were classified into three categories including hiring and accommodating employees with disabilities, work performance, and affective reactions and behavioural intentions of employers. Excluded from the review were studies that investigated other factors influencing employer attitudes toward disability. Altogether 34 research studies from the period of 1987 until 2012 were included in the review. Primary databases for the review included ProQuest, Ebscohost, Lexus Nexus, ERICK Database and the Sage Sociology Collection. This review of the demand-side employment literature suggests employers hold relatively positive attitudes regarding individuals with disabilities. However, employer affective reactions and behavioural intentions of employers towards disability in the work setting were less positive and negatively impact hiring decisions, provision of accommodations and work performance appraisals. Employer attitudes represent an important demand-side factor impacting full participation in competitive employment for individuals with disabilities. While employers report generally positive attitudes toward disability, hiring practices may still be discriminatory. Use by rehabilitation professionals of demand-side strategies with employers would likely result in higher rates of work participation by people with disabilities.

The goal of this study was to propose a systematic classification of relevant personal factors for describing the background of an individual's life and way of living. The German Society of Social Medicine and Prevention constituted an ICF working group consisting of members from Medical Advisory Boards of Statutory Health Insurances (n = 6) and other institutions (n = 12) in 2009. A two-tier consensus building approach was utilised to construct and document the personal factors, with an initial team of experts compiling the personal factors and a second group of experts, who had not participated in developing the initial proposal, validating the process. The consensus process resulted in personal factors classified into 72 categories and arranged in six chapters as follows: general factors normally unchangeable (chapter 1); a person's inherent physical and mental constitution (chapters 2 and 3); more modifiable factors, such as attitudes, basic skills and behaviour patterns (chapter 4); life situation and socioeconomic/sociocultural factors (chapter 5); and other health factors e.g., prior interventions (chapter 6). We believe the personal factors from this effort to be a good basis for a wider global dialogue on their operationalisation.

Safety climate, defined as workers' shared perceptions about the importance of safety to their organisation, has received increasing attention as a construct that is useful for benchmarking organisational safety and as a way of measuring the socio-organisational antecedents of safety performance. Few studies have utilised pre-existing safety climate measures and as a result of this, there is limited information about the generalisability of the construct and its underlying dimensions across organisations and industries. This is an important step towards establishing safety climate as a generic organisational construct which can be reliably measured. In those few cases where studies have used existing measures, results indicate inconsistencies in the underlying factor structures. Accordingly, using a sample of 321 employees from three separate organisations and industries, this study examined the factor structure of a modified version of an existing measure (the Safety Climate Questionnaire [SCQ]). Principal components factor analysis revealed that the original factor structure was upheld by the current sample (with the exception of two factors collapsing into one). This provides support for the generic nature of safety climate as it is operationalised by the SCQ. Additional items were included and emerged as two dimensions, providing support for the generalisability of these new factors across the organisations and industries employed. The results are of theoretical and practical significance as they provide evidence for the generic structure of the construct across organisations and industries, and exemplify how a measure of safety climate could be usefully employed in disability management planning and early intervention strategies.

Clinician optimism is an important factor in achieving treatment outcomes in counselling contexts. Currently, there are no measures of mental health clinician optimism which report substantial psychometric validation. This study sought to assesses the validity and reliability of the Therapeutic Optimism Scale (TOS). 223 mental health clinicians working in a range of clinical settings were administered the TOS and convergent and discriminate validity were established. Test–retest reliability was established over a period of 1 month. The TOS was found to achieve acceptable reliability (Cronbach's α = .68) and yielded consistent scores over a one month period (r = .68, p < .01). Factor analyses revealed a 3-factor solution reflecting (1) General Treatment Outcome Expectancy, (2) Personal Treatment Outcome Expectancy, and (3) Pessimism. These findings support the utility of the TOS for research purposes, but further revision is recommended to enhance the reliability of the scale.

This grounded theory study explains how health professionals work in interdisciplinary teams in health services where the call for new collaborations is intensifying. Forty-four participants from four teams in two major acute-care hospitals participated in the study. In total there were eighty hours of interviewing and eighty hours of participant observation. All data were constantly compared and analysed using Glaser's emergent approach to grounded theory. Underpinning the study are the premises of symbolic interactionism that are assumed to shape the focus of this study, team interactions, and collective action within an acute care setting. The study participants' patterns of behaviour would suggest that, when interdisciplinary practice is well established, an attitude of cooperative inquiry pervades joint actions and interactions that focus on meeting service needs.

This study examined barriers to physical activity reported individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) and the degree to which these barriers differed across varying degrees of independence. Participants were 65 individuals recruited from the Western Australian Spinal Cord Injury database. Data on physical activity participation and perceived barriers to physical activity participation were collected using a cross-sectional survey and analysed using independent samples t-tests. We found that, regardless of level of ambulation or ability to transfer, few participants reported being physically active. While there were no significant differences in the amount of barriers reported by individuals with different levels of independence, the type of barriers reported varied across groups.

This study examined differences between requesters and non-requesters of workplace accommodations in their self-reported job performance and job satisfaction. Participants were 194 individuals with visual and hearing disabilities (females = 67.5%, visual = 53.2%) receiving rehabilitation and related services in the US. They completed a survey on their self-reported accommodation requests, job satisfaction and work performance. Chi square and ANOVA tests were used to compare and contrast the differences. Findings suggest participants with requested accommodations have higher levels on job performance and job satisfaction than non-requesters. Individuals who were more likely to request accommodations were associated with higher educational background, moderate disability severity and higher levels of workplace supports from employers and coworkers. They reported higher knowledge levels on Americans with Disabilities Act and accommodation procedures, and higher outcome expectations and self-efficacies in requesting accommodations. Requesting workplace accommodations is an interactive and multifaceted process that involves various biopsychosocial factors. Rehabilitation professionals should help individuals with sensory disabilities from biopsychosoical perspectives to enhance job accommodation and job satisfaction.

Few studies report long term follow-up of community gatekeeper training programs that aim to facilitate help-seeking for suicide and there are none in Aboriginal communities. This study aimed to determine long term effects of the Shoalhaven Aboriginal Suicide Prevention Program (SASPP), which used community gatekeeper training as its primary strategy. Following consultation with the Aboriginal community, a brief questionnaire and semi-structured interview was completed by 40 participants who attended a community gatekeeper workshop 2 years earlier. Fifteen of the 40 participants stated that they had helped someone at risk of suicide over the 2-year follow-up period. Intentions to help and confidence to identify someone at risk of suicide remained high. A significant relationship was found between intentions to help prior to the workshop and whether participants had actually helped someone at risk of suicide. Correlations suggested a link between intentions to help, and subsequent help provision. However, it is unclear whether workshop attendance contributed to this effect. Future prevention programs need to be customised to specific Aboriginal communities to reduce barriers to helpseeking behaviour.

Work-based return-to-work (RTW) interventions can help to reduce the duration and cost of work disability, and in turn, prevent the negative effects of long-term sickness absence. However, there are a number of complex cognitive, affective and behavioural factors that can impact an individual's confidence, motivation and willingness to RTW that need to be addressed to facilitate effective outcomes. This literature review investigates evidence for the use of motivational interviewing (MI) for improving return-to-work (RTW) and employment outcomes. Whilst evidence for the efficacy of MI in clinical settings to motivate health behaviour change is strong, more research is needed to determine whether MI can be usefully applied to improve RTW and other work-related outcomes.

This study investigated the vocational rehabilitation experiences of 29 clients, up to 14 years post brain injury. Data obtained from participant interviews were thematically analysed by employment pathway (‘return to pre-injury employment’, ‘job seeking’ and ‘not worked since injury’). A total of nine themes were identified. Across all pathways, participants identified the importance of working, impact of injury and their own determination. The content for the remaining themes (understanding, adjustment, access, support, disclosure of injury, intervention) varied by pathway, reflecting the differing perspectives arising from integrating back into a familiar workplace versus seeking new employment. In conclusion, programme approaches to vocational rehabilitation need to be tailored to the individual circumstances, opportunities and support needs of people with brain injury pursuing these different pathways.

This preliminary study sought to explore the link between depression, experiential avoidance and mindfulness in people with a spinal cord injury (SCI). We surveyed patients listed on the SCI database at Royal Perth Hospital who had experienced an injury over the last 10 years. Respondents (62) completed a questionnaire including the depression subscale of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale, the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (AAQ-2; Bond et al., 2007) and the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS; Brown & Ryan, 2003). Thirty per cent of participants scored above the cut-off for possible depression, with equal numbers experiencing mild, moderate or severe depression. Mindfulness and experiential avoidance were significantly associated with depression, and were intercorrelated. Further, regression analysis indicated that experiential avoidance mediated the relationship between depression and mindfulness. Our preliminary data suggest that individuals with SCI who are more mindful use less avoidance and have a more positive mood. These results indicate further work in this area is warranted.

Family involvement in the rehabilitation counselling process is increasingly being recognised as an important component of rehabilitation success. This may be particularly true for persons who have an acquired or traumatic brain injury (TBI). For such individuals the emotional and psychosocial functioning of their family and caregivers has been associated with a variety of functional, psychosocial, and employment outcomes. Addressing the needs of family members is an important component of providing effective rehabilitation counselling services, but one that has received little attention in the rehabilitation counselling literature. This article reviews current research on the frequently identified needs of families and caregivers of persons with TBI, the family and situational variables that have been explored for their relationship to family needs, and the extent to which these needs are met. Clinical and research implications for rehabilitation counsellors are identified.

This study identified situations where communication was a barrier to employment for adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Informant interviewees were six college graduates with ASD who have been employed for one year. Following the qualitative inductive analysis, five communication-related themes emerged: (1) job interviewing success, (2) negotiating co-worker interactions, (3) supervisory interactions, instruction, and feedback, (4) handling customer intercommunication, and (5) communication-oriented coping strategies. Participants were relatively more successful in communication coping strategies and supervisory interaction compared to difficulties with job interviewing and co-worker interactions. Vocational rehabilitation counsellors assisting clients with ASD should prioritize job interview communication skills and social skill education specific to appropriate interactions with co-workers and supervisors utilizing role play, social skill training, and job coaching.

This study reports on the relationship between stage of recovery and hope, meaning and responsibility for individuals diagnosed with severe mental illness. Methods: Seventy-seven people with a diagnosis of a psychotic disorder of at least 6 months' duration participated in the study. Participants completed the Self-Identified Stage of Recovery (SISR) scale, measures of component processes of recovery (Hope Scale; Positive Interpretation of Disease, SpREUK; Active Involvement, Personal Health Management Questionnaire (PHMQ) and the Recovery Assessment Scale-short (RAS). Results: Hope, meaning, Personal Confidence and Hope and Not Being Dominated by Symptoms varied significantly across stages of recovery; however, neither in a parallel nor linear fashion. Hopefulness and sense of meaning in relation to the experience of mental illness increase before personal confidence and resilience in the face of setbacks. Conclusions and implications: Symptoms appear to take less prominence in individuals' lives in later stages of recovery. Greater insight into the relationship between stage of recovery and component processes may allow for more targeted recovery-oriented support for individuals at different stages of recovery.

This study investigated the effectiveness of support groups for people living with chronic ill-health conditions. Searches of the published literature were undertaken for the period 1993–2013. Papers were included if participants were between 18 and 65 years old, and study designs were either pre-test post-test one group descriptive, non-randomised group comparison, or randomised controlled trial, with reported data appropriate for meta-analysis and sufficient for estimating effect size(s). Total 19 studies were eligible in the meta-analysis, and 2,986 participants were examined. Six general outcome categories emerged from the data: (1) psychosocial functioning, (2) self-efficacy, (3) quality of life, (4) health status, (5) health behaviours and (6) health care use. In total, 155 effect sizes were calculated from the outcome measures with 15.5% resulting in a large effect size, 6% moderate effects, 39% small effects, and 39.5% producing trivial effects. The majority of the effect sizes (92%) were in the hypothesised direction. Overall, results demonstrate that self-help and support group interventions can positively influence management of chronic ill-health conditions and contribute to the desired outcome of successful adaptation.

Vocational professionals aware of the stigma associated with psychiatric disability, generally exercise caution when disclosing psychiatric or disability related information to employers. However, few professionals directly address stigma or specify disclosure strategies in vocational rehabilitation plans. Integrated information tailored to vocational professionals is needed to guide this aspect of vocational rehabilitation practice. We review recent evidence with legal and ethical information relevant to vocational rehabilitation. Key elements of disclosure and stigma-countering strategies are identified which can be incorporated into the career planning, job preparation, job securing and job retaining phases of vocational rehabilitation plans.

In 2010, we proposed a personal factor classification which was published in this journal. Since then, the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the biopsychosocial model were increasingly incorporated into the German Social Law Code for participation and rehabilitation, implying that personal factors are indispensable for individual assessments. For the present study, we aimed to come up with an updated version of the personal factors classification based on current research. To achieve this goal, we employed a qualitative approach to re-examine the basic structure, consistency, and selection of categories in the classification from our 2010 study, to amend and supplement the categories to reflect best practice personal factor classifications. Our findings indicate that the basic structure remained largely unchanged, with relatively minor changes, including the deletion of 5 categories from our 2010 classification, 10 categories revised in format or content, and 13 new categories. We believe our revised classification to be useful for supporting users in systematically, comprehensively, and transparently reporting influences on specific aspects of individuals’ life and living background on their functioning and participation, thus facilitating an equitable allocation of disability benefits.

Rehabilitation counselling is in need of a conceptual framework that will distinguish it from the medical notion of restoration and will provide a theoretical base from which rehabilitation counsellors can operate. The current paper presents a model of dishabilitation that highlights the processes that occur following acquired disability and that must be considered in designing a rehabilitation programme. The model suggests that the goal of rehabilitation should be the expansion of opportunities rather than the restoration of functions or previous position. By providing rehabilitation counsellors with a suitable “macro”level conceptualisation of rehabilitation, this approach will enable counsellors to implement “micro”level techniques in a manner that will empower individuals. Because intervention is aimed at opportunity expansion rather than the pursuit of specific goals, this approach allows individuals to retain control and to develop positive perceptions of themselves with their disability. The approach is also more sensitive to the impact of acquired disability on social networks and suggests that opportunities for families must also be expanded.

The present research examined the perceptions of Australian employees on dimensions of workplace stress. The sample included 664 male (n = 234) and female (n = 430) workers from the public (n = 559) and private (n = 105) sectors. Participants completed the Health and Safety Executive Indicator Tool as a measure of workplace stress. Results indicated that private sector employees rated their employers as being more effective in managing workplace stress, while employees in both sectors rated their employers as less effective in managing Job Content stressors than Job Context stressors. Compared with normative benchmarks, employees overall also reported risks of stress associated with Relationships and Role. Implications of these findings and suggestions for future research were discussed.

This study explored the relationships between hope, social inclusion, and mental wellbeing in a sample of people in recovery from mental illness. Participants were 70 adults (60% male) with a psychiatric disability (71.4% schizophrenia) who were engaged in supported employment by an Australian Disability Enterprise. Compared to others diagnosed with a mental disorder, the participants in this study had higher levels of hope, social inclusion, and mental wellbeing, and lower levels of psychological distress. Hope and social inclusion predicted mental wellbeing, with social inclusion partially mediating the relationship between the other two constructs. Participants reported experiencing the psychosocial benefits of work (e.g., structured activity and a shared purpose) but were dissatisfied with their wages. The findings support Jahoda's Latent Deprivation theory of social inclusion and the psychosocial benefits of work participation to recovery from mental illness.