Norman C. Hursh

Workplace Disability Management: International Trends and Perspectives

The social and economic costs of injury and disability in the workplace has had an adverse impact on employers and societies throughout the world. International trends in worksite disability management policies and practices, as surveyed by the International Labor Organization, are explored. The impact of formal training for Disability Management Coordinators is discussed, as relates to reductions in unnecessary lost time and workplace disability costs. A disability management audit system is summarized, as a strategic planning process for developing return-to-work programs for workers with disabilities.

Measuring community integration using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and participatory mapping for people who were once homeless.

Measures of community integration rely on self-report assessments that often quantify physical or social participation, but fail to capture the individual׳s spatial presence in the community. The current study documents the activity space, or area of daily experiences, of 37 individuals who were once homeless through participatory mapping and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Contrary to expectations, there was no significant relationship between activity space size and community integration measures, except a negative association with physical integration. Further analysis revealed, however, that continued use of homeless services, geographically spread throughout the city, was associated with larger activity space size, but may be counterproductive to social and psychological integration efforts. Analysis of the types of locations identified revealed high importance given to leisure locations and ongoing involvement with medical and mental health locations. Finally, community integration outcomes did not differ significantly by demographics or housing type, but rather degree of family involvement and feeling like home, factors that may have more potential for change.

The Vocational Preparation of the Chronic Psychiatric Patient in the Community

The psychiatric ally disabled person’s ability to assume the worker role in the community is viewed as a legitimate treatment goal for many persons with a psychiatric disability. Unfortunately, a review of outcome studies indicates that traditional methods of psychiatric treatment are not successful in providing the psychiatrically disabled client with the skills necessary to function on the job or in the community. This chapter discusses those assessment techniques and programming strategies which appear potentially effective in developing the client’s vocational behaviors and skills necessary to function more successfully in various work environments. The chapter initially provides an overview of a comprehensive skills-based approach to psychiatric rehabilitation so that the vocational rehabilitation process can be understood within the context of the total psychiatric rehabilitation process. The chapter then focuses on the vocational assessment process and the various diagnostic assessment tools used in vocational rehabilitation. The following section discusses the most common vocational intervention programs. A separate section reviews some sample programs which illustrate how various assessment tools and training strategies have been utilized in the vocational preparation of the psychiatrically disabled client. The final section suggests some future directions for the field.