Barriers to Hiring and Accommodating People With Disabilities in Small and Medium Sized Businesses: A Scoping Review

Research has found that small and medium sized businesses are less likely to hire, retain and offer job accommodations to people with disabilities than larger companies. Since small to midsize businesses employ almost half of the nation's workforce, this may be an underutilized source of employment for people with disabilities. A scoping literature review using Arksey and O'Malley's framework (Arksey, H., & O'Malley, L. (2005). Scoping studies: Towards a methodological framework. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 8(1), 19–32. https://doi.org/10.1080/1364557032000119616) was used to investigate two questions: What are the barriers to hiring individuals with disabilities in small and medium sized businesses? And what are the barriers to job accommodations and retention of individuals with disabilities in small and medium sized businesses? Five themes emerged; cost associated with hiring and accommodating, stereotypes/stigma, employer policies and practices, engagement with rehabilitation service agencies, and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)/disability legislation. The findings uncovered several barriers. Small and medium sized businesses were more likely to be concerned about costs, less likely to engage in rehabilitation services, and have diversity policies in place and had less favorable attitudes toward people with disabilities and ADA legislation. Limitations, and implications for rehabilitation counseling, and future research are discussed.

An assessment of scoping review reporting within paramedicine: A scoping review

Aim This study aimed to examine the quality of published paramedic scoping reviews against pre-existing frameworks to assess the extent to which they fulfil the requirements of this methodological approach. Subsequently, recommendations will be presented regarding improvements for future paramedic scoping reviews. Methods A scoping review was conducted guided by the PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews. A literature search was performed in six electronic databases as well as the grey literature to identify previous scoping reviews that focussed on paramedic or emergency medical service personnel. Relevant data were extracted from included articles and presented in narrative and tabular formats. Results The literature search initially identified 475 articles, of which 20 remained after title/abstract and full-text screening. There was a general increase in the number of studies published over time, the majority of articles (80%) had conducted their scoping review utilising published frameworks, and 75% of first authors were paramedics. Although many areas of these reports comply with published guidelines, there was an overall lack of consistency in the specific information included, the level of detail of that information, and the location of information within the reports. Conclusion All paramedic scoping studies should be reported with the use of a published framework to enable standardisation in the reporting, thus facilitating understanding, reproducibility, and utility. The PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews provides a checklist and thorough explanations of each step in the reporting process and is recommended for use with all future paramedic scoping reviews.

Flipping the researcher knowledge translation perspective on knowledge use: a scoping study

The first community of practice of Torres Strait Islander researchers in Australia was established to ensure knowledge translation efforts are effective in addressing the gap between “what is known” and “what is currently done” in policy and practice settings in the region. The scoping review involved a search of publicly accessible and relevant online databases and a rapid appraisal of systematic reviews and scoping studies of knowledge translation models and frameworks. The search identified 156 knowledge translation models and frameworks, of which 15 models and frameworks were selected for analysis. Selected models described knowledge use in terms of characteristics about the individual or the individual’s context. Surprisingly, given the growth in information about knowledge translation and research impact, there appear to be very few knowledge translation models and frameworks that were framed from the perspective of the knowledge user, and there was no model or framework that was a stand-alone pull approach.