Vocational rehabilitation, often abbreviated as VR or voc rehab, is a process which enables persons with functional, psychological, developmental, cognitive, and emotional disabilities, impairments or health disabilities to overcome barriers to accessing, maintaining, or returning to employment or other useful occupations.
Whilst, traditionally, the focus of vocational rehabilitation was job retention, an increased focus on an all-encompassing approach has become popular in contemporary approaches. Approaches differ between countries, however, due to the differing amounts of financial and political support vocational rehabilitation receives.
Summary Vocational rehabilitation varies greatly between countries. However, it generally focuses on improvements to the socialisation, healthcare and physical and mental wellbeing of the person receiving the services. People eligible for vocational rehabilitation generally include those with long-term sicknesses, mental health disorders, common health problems and severe medical conditions. Services offered to those who are eligible commonly include financial support, psychological support and social support. Commonly, healthcare programs rely on their successes to gain support. However, vocational rehabilitation is unique as it is largely reliant on employer compliance and willingness to involve themselves in the process. Subsequently, it is often marketed in a way that focuses more on the business gains of the program. There is a large amount of research dedicated to the development and improvement of vocational rehabilitation. Contemporary focus on vocational rehabilitation arose from an increased focus on social security systems on a governmental level. It is believed to be beneficial for people to return to work and to experience full integration into society, which is typically assisted by vocational rehabilitation. Moreover, rehabilitation programs encourage fewer people to rely on governmental financial support by facilitating greater movement into jobs for people with disabilities who, typically, are excluded from the workforce. There is a large cultural influence on approaches to disability and subsequently, disability services. Developed countries such as the US, UK and Australia have had systems in place for rehabilitation services for many years. Developing countries, however, have historically been more focused on combatting diseases and thus, have had less resources to dedicate to the development of rehabilitation programs. There is large amounts of stigma surrounding disability in developing countries. As a result, there is a lack of vocational rehabilitation programs in these countries which in turn has consequences on the economic and social development within them. The World Health Organisation, however, have implemented programs within developing countries in order to better establish their rehabilitation plans for people with disabilities. Whilst it is a popularly used form of intervention throughout many countries, vocational rehabilitation is often criticised for being inefficient and unsuccessful. Furthermore, some critics claim that there is not enough emphasis placed on women with disabilities in need of vocational rehabilitation services.
Professionals involved Occupational therapists are the core profession in vocational rehab. The role of occupational therapists in the workplace is to facilitate individuals' ability to return to work. Occupational therapists assist their clients in reaching their maximum level of function with the aim of meeting the physical and emotional demands of their job. Occupational therapists are also qualified to make recommendations to employers on how to adapt job demands to meet the functional status of an employee in order to prevent further injury and enable productivity during occupational rehabilitation. Individual functional capacity evaluations are used to screen for person-environment fit. Industrial occupational therapists use a collaborative approach involving the workers and employers to encourage a supportive work environment that empowers the worker to reach productivity and other work related goals. Occupational therapy interventions in vocational rehabilitation include developing assertiveness; communication and interpersonal skills; controlling anger; and stress management, adapting environment, identification and use of compensatory strategies to enable functions within the job. Other involved professionals may be occupational psychologists, physiotherapists, kinesiologists, occupational physiologists, and occupational physicians.
By location
Vocational rehabilitation in the United States
History The Vocational Rehabilitation Program was created in 1920. This program was created under the supervision of the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) which was formed by the US government to facilitate a variety of programs for vocational rehabilitation. The President's Committee on Employment of the Handicapped was formed in 1945, which later became the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities and today is known as the Office of Disability Employment Policy. By the end of the 20th century, a number of services were created to facilitate support for vocational rehabilitation. In the 1980s, jobs specifically for people with disabilities were created and the idea of ‘equal access’ became more widespread. The ‘Americans with Disabilities Act’ was implemented in 1990 and afforded people with disabilities the same set of rights that had historically been granted to women and marginalised groups.
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