Consumer Perspectives on Service Provision for Workplace Accommodations Dory Sabata, OTD Michael Williams, PhD Sarah Endicott, OTR Work RERC National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), U.S. Department of Education

Work RERC Supported by Grant #H133E from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) U.S. Department of Education

Workplace Accommodations (WA) WA are changes to the work environment or job tasks to facilitate participation in employment activities Types – General Access to Facility – Access to Individual Work Environment – Job Set Up / Adaptive Strategies

Consumer Perspectives of WA Provision from a National Survey Over half (60%) of the respondents claim that their accommodations have continued to be useful, including 8% who continue to use their WA at a new job. 15% were fired or laid off because they could not get the accommodations necessary to do the work required 12% delayed starting a job while they waited for workplace accommodations

Purpose Understand How Workplace Accommodations Have Historically Been Provided – Do people get workplace accommodations following recommendations? – Who provides these WA? – Is training provided? – What happens over time?

Methods Participants: – Received Georgia VR services and a WA assessment ( ) – Employed or seeking employment – Age Phone Interviews with 53 Participants Data Analyzed with SPSS 14.0

Demographics 60% Female 76% Caucasian, 24% African American Education: – 46% High school graduate or less – 44% College graduate or some college – 10% Beyond undergraduate degree

Demographics Work History M=8.4 years, SD=7.1 Number of Jobs Held M=2.0, SD=1.6

Primary Condition Motor Impairment45% (n=23) Visual Impairment21% (n=11) Cognitive Impairment16% (n=8) Speech Impairment 4% (n=2) Unspecified14% (n=7)

WA Prior to Assessment Total WA Before Assessment = 44 – Access to Individual Work Environment 33 (19%) – Workplace Facility Access 7 (18%) – Adaptive Strategies 4 (13%)

Recommendations for WA Total Number of Recommended WA140 – Access to Individual Work Environment 95 – Workplace Facility Access 28 – Adaptive Strategies 17

WA Implemented and by Whom Vocational Rehabilitation 94 – Access to Individual Work Environment15 (40%) – Workplace Facility Access70 (40%) – Adaptive Strategies 9 (29%)

WA Implemented and by Whom (continued) Self and Others107 – Access to Individual Work Environment 16 (42%) – Workplace Facility Access 73 (42%) – Adaptive Strategies 18 (58%)

Who Took Part in the Decisions? Self91% Vocational Rehab. Providers68% Employer42% Family25%

Training 53% Received Training – 75% Felt training was relative to workplace 38% Did Not Receive Training – 61% Felt training would have been helpful

Longevity of Accommodations 38% Still Using WA at Follow-Up 55% Used WA at Subsequent Jobs 63% Recognized Need to Replace Initial WA with Advanced Technology

Discussion Professional assessment may help to identify needed WA Need for team involvement in the decisions and implementation Need for WA that either continue to work over time in changing work environments or are easily upgraded

Contact Information Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Workplace Accommodations Georgia Institute of Technology Center for Assistive Technology and Environmental Access