The goal of this project is to evaluate the Job-Raising Program (JRP), a new vocational rehabilitation approach for people with arthritis that is being implemented by the Arthritis Foundation.
The specific aims are to: 1) describe the characteristics of JRP participants; 2) assess the relative contribution of various explanatory factors to employment among JRP participants; 3) determine whether sense of empowerment changes as a result of JRP participation; 4) compare the characteristics of JRP participants with those of persons who receive the standard state-federal vocational rehabilitation (SF VR) approach; and 5) assess employment outcomes of JRP participants relative to that of SF VR recipients. Survey methods will be used to collect the cross sectional and longitudinal data needed to describe the JRP sample initially and over time. A nonequivalent control group quasi-experimental design is planned for the comparisons between the JRP and SF VR samples. Most of the data about JRP participants will be collected by Boston University Arthritis Center by mail. Data collected by the Arthritis Foundation/The Development Team, Inc. about JRP participants will be used also. The data about SF VR clients will be that which has been collected by the Rehabilitation Services Administration. The outcome variables are employed versus unemployed, number of hours of employment, and time to employment. Outcomes will be assessed at 6 and 12 months after the conclusion of Job-Raising Programs. Descriptive and explanatory variables are health, sociodemographic, family, employment, income, and psychological characteristics. These characteristics will be assessed upon entry into a Job-Raising Program and at 6 months after entry for those characteristics which can be expected to change. The distributional attributes of the characteristics will be used to address the first specific aim. Regression analysis will be used for the second aim.
The third aim will be analyzed via t tests, and the final aims will be analyzed using logistic regression, analysis of variance and Cox proportional hazard regression procedures. The results of this project will determine the utility of the JRP approach, lead to improvements in the Job-Raising Program, and provide information to help clinicians refer patients to appropriate vocational rehabilitation programs.
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