WCMT-Melissa-Kelly

Conclusion
The key objective of the WCMT fellowship was to review selected international vocational
departments in an embedded hospital programme and their resourcing. Furthermore community
support available to patients following discharge from rehabilitation units, and ways to improve
community links and education around SCI. In terms of improving employer education the key
questions presented during the research were:
1. What do you promote as the benefits of employing someone with a disability?
2. At what stage do you engage with an existing employer?
3. What are the typical questions and concerns from employers?
4. Is there funding available to address equipment and accessibility needs?
5. How do you approach employers?
Employment rates after SCI vary widely depending on many variables, particularly however the
measure of employment. By measure of employment, I mean what the analysing person defines
as work, for example paid work, voluntary work, full-time work or paid work more than 5 hours
per week. Statistics also, do not necessarily reflect the complexities that sit alongside the return
to work process.
Characteristics influencing employment after SCI include demographic variables, injury-related
factors (age at injury, level of impairment, functional capacity), employment history or in many
cases a limited history of work, psychosocial issues such as transport, physical health, life skills,
motivational level/expectation to work and not forgetting, very importantly the support systems
available.
It is well reported that those individuals with SCI who are working, experience significantly
better quality of life, sense of purpose and other benefits. However, the barriers to returning to
meaningful work can be daunting and numerous. I have learnt that the most common issues of
the countries I visited were access to transport, housing and flexibility of carers.
Vocational rehabilitation programmes that address these barriers are essential. Vocational
rehabilitation programmes in the acute setting, are even more beneficial to reduce the potential
learned dependency of a person and to bridge the gap between employers and the individual. The
area of acute vocational rehabilitation needs to be a focus of research, to understand, better
communicate and improve vocational rehabilitation outcomes among this population of
individuals with SCI.
WCMT Research Fellowship 33