Disability and working life

Abstract

The publication consists of six articles, which examine the concepts of disability and rehabilitation, and the results or implementation of European disability projects. The articles are based on presentations given in an international workshop, called "Vammaisuus, vajaakuntoisuus ja työelämä" (Impairment, disability and working life), arranged by the Rehabilitation Foundation and the National Council of Disability (Finland), in May 2002.

In a brief introductory article, Aila Järvikoski presents some remarks on disability and rehabilitation research. Disability as a social construct is associated with helplessness and need for care. Participation is a central goal in rehabilitation, and in reaching this goal it is necessary to listen to the client's goals and find opportunities for participation during the rehabilitation process.

Helen Bolderson from the Brunel University examines in her article policy definitions of disability in Europe. Special reference is given to social security, employment and anti-discrimination measures. The material of the article draws on research funded by the European Commission, and the findings were assessed using interactive teamwork by national researchers from fifteen member states and Norway.

Simo Mannila, Hanna Kankainen and Veijo Notkola from the Rehabilitation Foundation present in their article the main results of the ad hoc module of the Finnish Labour Force Survey (2002), addressing the prevalence of disability, the disabled persons' coping in working life and their needs for services. The Labour Force Survey and the ad hoc module are harmonized and coordinated by Eurostat in all EU countries, which gives a possibility to make comparisons between countries. In his other article, Simo Mannila examines European labour market policies for persons with disabilities. His analysis is based on a project implemented by the European Expert Group on the employment Situation of People with Disabilities and coordinated by the EIM in the Netherlands.

Patricia Thornton from the University of York puts forth a new innovative method of estimating impact of employment interventions. She describes the main characteristics of the British Access to Work programme, introduced in 1994, and the challenges it gives for impact evaluation.

In the last article, Richard Wynne, Donal McAnaney and Julie Thorne from Dublin and Katariina Hinkka and Jorma Järvisalo from the Social Insurance Institution (Kela, Finland) describe the implementation and experiences given by the RETURN project, funded by the European Commission. The aim of the project was to improve return to work strategies that were used in six European countries with long term absent employees.

Key words: disability, employment, policy, working life, evaluation