Article

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effects of a 24-month program of Individual Placement
and Support (IPS) supported employment (SE) on employment outcomes for veterans
with spinal cord injury (SCI). DESIGN: Longitudinal, observational multisite
study of a single-arm, nonrandomized cohort. SETTING: SCI centers in the Veterans
Health Administration (n=7). PARTICIPANTS: Veterans with SCI (N=213) enrolled
during an episode of either inpatient hospital care (24.4%) or outpatient care
(75.6%). More than half the sample (59.2%) had a history of traumatic brain
injury (TBI). INTERVENTION: IPS SE for 24 months. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE:
Competitive employment. RESULTS: Over the 24-month period, 92 of 213 IPS
participants obtained competitive jobs for an overall employment rate of 43.2%.
For the subsample of participants without TBI enrolled as outpatients (n=69), 36
obtained competitive jobs for an overall employment rate of 52.2%. Overall,
employed participants averaged 38.2+/-29.7 weeks of employment, with an average
time to first employment of 348.3+/-220.0 days. Nearly 25% of first jobs occurred
within 4 to 6 months of beginning the program. Similar employment characteristics
were observed in the subsample without TBI history enrolled as outpatients.
CONCLUSIONS: Almost half of the veterans with SCI participating in the 24-month
IPS program as part of their ongoing SCI care achieved competitive employment,
consistent with their expressed preferences at the start of the study. Among a
subsample of veterans without TBI history enrolled as outpatients, employment
rates were >50%. Time to first employment was highly variable, but quite long in
many instances. These findings support offering continued IPS services as part of
ongoing SCI care to achieve positive employment outcomes.
CI - Copyright (c) 2017 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by
Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS