Opti-work – Optimising strategies for integrating people with disabilities into work
Takaisin hankelistaan| Hallinnoiva yksikkö | Tutkimus- ja kehittämisyksikkö |
|---|---|
| Hankkeen nimi | Opti-work – Optimising strategies for integrating people with disabilities into work |
| Project Name | Opti-work – Optimising strategies for integrating people with disabilities into work |
| Alkamisvuosi | 2005 |
| Päättymisvuosi | 2007 |
| Hanketyyppi | Kehittäminen |
| Hankkeen tila | Päättynyt |
| Vastuuhenkilö | Brigitte van Lierop (Institute for Rehabilitation Research, Hollanti; koordinaattori) |
| Vastuuhenkilö Kuntoutussäätiössä | Kristiina Härkäpää |
| Rahoittajat | EU:n tutkimuksen 6. puiteohjelma (8.1.B.2.4), co-ordination action |
| Tausta | Disability emerges from social, economic, cultural and medical processes within society. It is a dynamic interaction between health condition, personal factors e.g. age or gender and the environment e.g. laws, access to supports or attitudes, that impacts on capacity, activity levels and restricts participation in society, economic activity and inclusion. The repercussions of dependency and unemployment, as a result of disability for EU fiscal and social policy, will place pressure on the European Social Model in the longer term, not least due to a rise in age-related acquired disabilities and health problems. More effective policies and strategies are required, in order to assist people with disabilities to cross the threshold from economic inactivity to productive employment, which target both employers and individuals. Such measures must impact directly on the decision of a person with a disability to seek and keep a job, and on individual employers to recruit and retain disabled employees. |
| Tavoite | Utilising recent research and developments across a range of disciplines, Opti-Work aims to add value to EU and national employment policy and national systems to promote the integration of people with disabilities into the labour market. It will develop a conceptual framework, consisting of a set of culturally relevant analytical tools. These tools will be capable of throwing light upon the 'threshold' decisions of job seekers with disabilities and potential employers and the economic and social cost/benefits of crossing the threshold to employment for the State, employer and person with a disability. This will permit systems and initiatives to be benchmarked across jurisdictions in these terms. The perspectives of key stakeholders, active job seekers with disabilities and potential employers, and passive employers and inactive people with disabilities, will underpin the development process of this coordination action. System characteristics, which lower the threshold to employment for people with disabilities and minimise the costs of disability and employment equity measures for the State, the jobseeker and the employer, will be highlighted and future strategies will be proposed. An online knowledge management resource centre will be produced, in order to facilitate community building between the EU and national stakeholders. |
| Menetelmät/aineisto/toteutus | Tiedonkeruu tapahtui kyselylomakkeilla, haastatteluilla ja focus-ryhmissä. Tiedonkeruuseen osallistui European Platform for Rehabilitationin (EPR) jäsenorganisaatioita 15:stä Euroopan maasta. Nämä organisaatiot muodostivat ns. kansalliset kontaktikeskukset, joiden toimintaa EPR koordinoi. Tiedonkeruu kohdistui päättäjiin, työnantajiin, kolmannen sektorin toimijoihin sekä vajaakuntoisiin ja vammaisiin henkilöihin. |
| Tulokset | Ks. projektin verkkojulkaisut osoitteessa http://www.optiwork.org/?p=deliverables |
| Keywords | disability, employment policy, labour market, job seekers, employers |