Psychometric Validation of the Wisconsin Community Participation Scale in a Sample of People with Chronic Health Conditions and Disabilities Living in the Community

Increasing community participation can reduce the risk for functional disabilities; participation is influenced by person and environment contextual factors. Development and validation of a brief community participation assessment can advance and support evidence-based assessment in clinical rehabilitation counseling practice. It will be an invaluable rehabilitation and public health surveillance tool that can be used to gauge the health conditions and participation of people with disabilities. The current study evaluated and validated the Wisconsin Community Participation Scale (WCPS) in 982 individuals with chronic health conditions and disabilities. Participants indicated five most meaningful life roles: (a) being able to get around with or without help, (b) live independently with or without help, (c) live a healthy lifestyle, (d) work, and (e) leisure and recreation activities. The WCPS scores were positively associated with physical health, mental health, and life satisfaction and negatively related to functional disability in the theoretically expected directions. The WCPS can help rehabilitation counselors assess their clients’ current level of participation in meaningful life roles that are important to them. Rehabilitation counselors can use the WCPS assessment data to guide treatment planning and empower clients to build confidence and self-efficacy to participate in personally meaningful activities in the community.

Lessons Learned by Rehabilitation Counselors and Physicians in Services to COVID-19 Long-Haulers: A Qualitative Study

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) may cause long-lasting adverse consequences after acute recovery, including functional limitations and reduced work capacity. Individuals with long-lasting complications of COVID-19 are known as long-haulers. There is a knowledge gap on how COVID-19 complications affect return-to-work (RTW) efforts. We aimed to describe the challenges that long-haulers encounter when RTW from the perspectives of rehabilitation professionals. In this study, four certified rehabilitation counselors and four rehabilitation physicians in outpatient rehabilitation centers participated in focus groups. Participants discussed challenges in working with long-haulers, including personal attributes, post-COVID-19 symptoms and complications, uncertain recovery and unpredictable outcomes, limited health care accessibility and support, and unsupportive work environments. Participants provide individualized services to meet long-haulers’ diverse needs as they do for all persons with disabilities, although they expressed uncertainty due to the variable disease course and risk of infection. Modifying workplace policies, especially gradual RTW, were frequently mentioned accommodations. The findings highlight the RTW issues of long-haulers. We provide recommendations on increasing awareness of the challenges and job accommodations of long-haulers.

Families of veterans with traumatic brain injury in Australia and the United States: implications for rehabilitation counselors

Starting with World War I, Australia and the United States have been allies in military operations. Since then, both countries have been challenged by meeting the needs of military personnel incurring traumatic brain injury (TBI), especially during recent operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. TBI impacts all members of the veteran’s family. This paper articulates the shared responsibility both countries assume in meeting the support needs faced by families of military veterans with TBI and how TBI in the military is different than in the civilian population. The paper describes how both countries differently address the needs of family caregivers of veterans with TBI and outlines areas for rehabilitation counselor collaborations in research and training.

A Mixed Design Evaluation of an Interdisciplinary Transition Graduate Program

The authors describe the implementation and impact of a graduate-level transition personnel preparation program for transition specialists. This program was based on the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) standards for transition specialists. Over 200 special educators were prepared in a 2-year part-time graduate program where interdisciplinary, practice-based preparation was provided. Participants completed five courses and one practicum designed to prepare them to meet the standards for transition specialists. Competency ratings significantly improved after program completion. Focus group responses suggested that the program design had features that had major impact on the areas of policy, collaboration, and leadership. Collaboration and interdisciplinary activities emphasizing the roles of transition professionals were described throughout the article, showing how transition specialists, career/technical educators, and rehabilitation counselors are mutually supportive of youth with disabilities achieving postschool goals. The authors recommended further research on how this kind of preparation might be disseminated and replicated.

Earning Capacity of Private Rehabilitation Counselors

The following study builds upon prior research on rehabilitation counseling salary surveys completed by the American Counseling Association (ACA), the Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification (CRCC), the International Association of Rehabilitation Professionals (IARP), and the American Board of Vocational Experts (ABVE). The present study examines the current state of salary distribution within the private sector of rehabilitation counseling by combining the data sets from the IARP and ABVE participants into one large sample for regression analyses. The survey was created by building on the existing ACA and CRCC salary surveys in the counseling field and refined with the assistance of a Delphi panel of 10 nationally known rehabilitation counselors with an average of 31 years clinical experience. The survey participants included 524 members of IARP and ABVE who completed the identical online survey to provide the data to examine the average annual earnings, demographics, and participants who experienced disabilities during their career within the two national organizations. Results found that gender, education level, practice setting, licensure status, and years in practice were statistically significant.

Psychometric Validation of a Simplified Version of the Multiple Sclerosis Self-Management Scale

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to evaluate the measurement structure of a simplified version of the Multiple Sclerosis Self-Management Scale (MSSMS) in a sample of 256 individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS).MethodsExploratory factor analysis was utilized to uncover meaningful and interpretable factors.ResultsThe study yielded three factors as both meaningful and interpretable (medication compliance, MS knowledge, and health maintenance behavior). These factors are reliable and correlated with functional disability and community participation in the theoretically expected directions.ConclusionResults show the MSSMS to be a promising rehabilitation assessment tool for individuals with MS and rehabilitation counselors to evaluate self-management support needs in the interview, assessment, and rehabilitation planning protocols.

Utilizing Vocational Rehabilitation to Support Post-School Transition for Students With Learning Disabilities

In addition to supporting the academic goals of students with learning disabilities, secondary special education teachers are tasked with providing services designed to improve post-school outcomes. To improve these offerings, special education teachers should ensure collaboration with vocational rehabilitation (VR) counselors during the transition process. Vocational rehabilitation counselors have unique knowledge for preparing individuals with learning disabilities to be successful in the workplace. Partnering with VR counselors may improve post-school goal acquisition for students. This article describes VR service mandates and provides recommendations for special education teachers to build relationships with VR personnel.

Effective Job Supports to Improve Employment Outcomes for Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorder

The unemployment rate of those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is staggeringly low. The low number of those with ASD in the competitive workforce can be connected to the complex and sometimes severe manifestations of the disorder. However, there are many supports and accommodations that individuals with ASD can use in order to alleviate the stress of finding and maintaining competitive employment. Natural supports can be provided through supportive supervisors, informed coworkers, and on-the-job trainings. Vocational rehabilitation services are provided in order to assess, prepare, and support individuals with ASD through their employment. Lastly, job modifications are used to alleviate any stressors that an employee with ASD may experience on the job. In this literature it was found that natural supports, vocational rehabilitation services, and job modifications were effective in improving the employment outcomes for individuals with ASD. Rehabilitation counselors can use the information found in this literature review to inform employers of successful and effective job supports for employees with ASD.

On-the-Job Treatment of Employees With Disabilities: A Grounded Theory Investigation

Workplace mistreatment is common for workers with and without disabilities. Overt forms of mistreatment in the workplace (e.g., abuse, bullying, harassment) have been well studied; however, less is known about more subtle forms of workplace mistreatment for employees with disabilities. The purpose of this study was to examine how workers with disabilities are treated on the job, the types of mistreatment present in the workplace, the consequences involved (if any), the courses of action taken (if any), and workers’ satisfaction with the outcomes of actions taken. We used a grounded theory approach to learn from 26 employees with disabilities about their experiences with workplace treatment. Primary themes that emerged from the data were (a) the emotional toll of being mistreated on the job; (b) attempting to “grin and bear it,” as one participant described it, to avoid mistreatment; (c) a desire to feel a sense of belongingness at the workplace; and (d) the intersection of disability characteristics, individual characteristics, and work environment characteristics that influences how people with disabilities are treated on the job. Implications are presented for understanding the role that rehabilitation counselors play in helping workers and employers to respond to mistreatment of employees with disabilities.