Promoting factors and barriers to participation in working life for people with spinal cord injury
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(2020) 15:37
RESEARCH
Open Access
Promoting factors and barriers to participation in working life for people with spinal cord injury Christian Sturm1* , Andrea Bökel1, Christoph Korallus1, Veronika Geng2, Yorck B. Kalke3, Rainer Abel4, Ines Kurze5 and Christoph M. Gutenbrunner1
Abstract Background: It is still difficult for people with physical impairments to be and remain equally integrated into the labour market. For this reason, the question of occupational activity has explicitly been examined by the German Spinal Cord Injury Survey (GerSCI) in order to identify barriers and facilitators for labour market participation. Methods: Cross-sectional explorative observational study. The GerSCI survey is the German part of the International Spinal Cord Injury Survey (InSCI). Using survey data from persons recruited at eight specialised SCI-centres in Germany. Participants: 1.479 persons with Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) aged 18 years and older. Results: In a self-disclosure questionnaire, persons with SCI show themselves as a professionally well-educated and highly motivated group with most of them aiming at gainful employment and considering themselves fit for work. Many changeable and non-changeable factors have been found, which showed a high correlation with the return to work after acquired SCI. Conclusion: Education and pain belong to the most critical factors and thereby possible approaches to increase the level of employment, which is essential and highly relevant not only for earning money but also for selfconfidence and social integration. SCI has many dimensions in itself; support also should be multidimensional. Study results might help to improve participation. Keywords: Disability studies, Employment, Social security, Spinal cord injuries, Unemployment
Background Many workers leave the labour market permanently due to a health problem or disability. Too few people with reduced working capacity manage to remain in employment in member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) [1]. The financial situation of those concerned has been improved in many countries of the OECD through existing social security systems. Social participation is nevertheless * Correspondence: [email protected] 1 Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg Str. 1, 30625 Hanover, Germany Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
inadequate, and the financial burdens at both individual and societal level are high. This issue is one of the biggest social and labour market challenges for policymakers [1]. In Germany, the support for participation in working life of people with disabilities is anchored in the Social Code Book IX (§ 166 SGB IX) in the so-called inclusion agreement. This agreement regulates the cooperation between the employee representatives, in particular the representative body for persons with severe disability, and the employer. They have to agree on objectives for improving the integration of persons with
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