Barriers and Facilitators to Employment for People with Physical Disabilities: Employee and Employer Perspectives

Thursday, November 10, 2022

10:45 AM – 12:00 PM

Presenter(s)

Allen W. Heinemann, PhD (he/him/his)

Director, Center for Rehabilitation Outcomes Research; Professor, PM&R
Shirley Ryan AbilityLab; Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University
Chicago, Illinois, United States

Slides
Jasin Wong, PhD

Post-Doctoral Fellow
National Tsing-Hua University
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Elizabeth Munsell, PhD, OTR/L

Post-doctoral Research Fellow
Shirley Ryan AbilityLab; Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, United States

Slides Slides and Audio
Han Su, PhD, RN

Assistant professor
Vanderbilt University, Tennessee, United States

Slides
Angelika M. Kudla, B.S.

Senior Project Coordinator
Shirley Ryan AbilityLab
Arlington Heights, Illinois, United States

Slides

Employment only provides people with disabilities with financial independence and also enhances their well-being, self-worth, and sense of purpose. However, the employment opportunities and working situations for people with disabilities are not favorable despite legislative initiatives such as the Americans with Disabilities Act. There is an urgent need to reduce inequities in hiring, promotion, and retention of people with disabilities. Few studies investigate the factors encountered by people with disabilities in maintaining employment. This research aimed to examine systematically the client-, employer-, and context-related facilitators and barriers to employment experienced by people with disabilities.

Learning Objectives:

Discuss issues faced by employees with physical disabilities and employers in securing and maintaining employment.
Describe the availability and use of job accommodations by people with physical disabilities.
Describe facilitators and barriers to employment for people with physical disabilities.
Discuss employers’ perspectives on challenges and strategies in hiring, retaining, and promoting employees with physical disabilities.