| Citation: |
Lidal, I.B., Huynh, T.K., & Biering-Sorensen, F. (2007). Return to work following spinal cord injury: a review.
Disability and Rehabilitation, 29
(17),
1341-1375.
|
| Title: |
Return to work following spinal cord injury: a review |
| Authors: |
Lidal, I.B., Huynh, T.K., & Biering-Sorensen, F. |
| Year: |
2007 |
|
Journal/Publication:
|
Disability and Rehabilitation |
| Publisher: |
Taylor and Francis |
| DOI: |
https://doi.org/10.1080/09638280701320839
|
| Full text: |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09638280701320839
|
PDF
|
| Peer-reviewed? |
Yes
|
| NIDILRR-funded? |
Not reported
|
|
Research design:
|
Literature review
|
| Background: |
Spinal Cord Injuries (SCI) cause significant problems for the people who have them, especially in terms of their employment and employability. |
|
Purpose:
|
The purpose is to review literature about SCI and Return to Work (RTW) to study factors related to RTW post-SCI, and treatments that can help people with SCI gain better employment. |
|
Data collection and analysis:
|
Data was collected on articles published between 2000 and 2006 through several online databases, including PubMed, AMED, Web of Science, and EMBASE. The search terms were ‘spinal cord injuries’, ‘spinal cord disorder’, ‘spinal cord lesion’ or ‘spinal cord disease’, and were cross indexed with the keywords ‘employment’, ‘return to work’, ‘occupation’ or ‘vocational’. |
|
Findings:
|
RTW was found to be more common in people who were younger when their initial injury occurred, had less traumatic injury, and more independence. The problems deemed most likely to hurt a person's chances of employment were transportation, health and physical limitations, lack of work experience, education or training, physical or architectural barriers, discrimination by employers, and loss of benefits. |
|
Conclusions:
|
The review confirmed that people with an SCI have a much lower employment rate, and are in need of new treatments and research into ways to improve this. |
