Improving Vocational Outcomes in Arthritis

The University of Alabama at Birmingham

Status and phase: Completed; Phase 2

Conditions: Arthritis; Musculoskeletal Diseases; Rheumatic Diseases

Treatments: Behavioral: Reading materials for control participants; Behavioral: Vocational counseling intervention; Behavioral: Standard of care

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other; NIH

Identifiers

NCT00000407

Sub: EEHSR3

P60AR020614 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

NIAMS-024

Details and patient eligibility

About

The long-term objectives of this research project are to enhance program participation and improve the employment prospects of people with work disability due to arthritis and related musculoskeletal disorders (ARMD) who are actively seeking vocational (job-related) rehabilitation (VR) services.

This study is designed to compare the employment situations of a group of people receiving a two-part intervention and a group that is not receiving the intervention. The intervention consists of training sessions to help prospective VR clients with ARMD successfully enter and complete the VR program, and training sessions for a randomly selected group of VR professionals to help them serve VR clients with ARMD more effectively.

Full description

The long-term objectives of this research project are to enhance program participation and improve the vocational outcomes of people with work disability due to arthritis and related musculoskeletal disorders (ARMD) who are actively seeking vocational rehabilitation services.

Some researchers think that people with work disability due to ARMD seeking vocational rehabilitation (VR) services who are exposed to an "agency access intervention" are more likely to gain entrance to the VR system and be determined eligible for services than are similar people not exposed to the intervention. Further, they think that people with work disability due to ARMD who are determined to be eligible for VR services, and who are exposed to an "agency enhancement intervention" while receiving services, are more likely to become and remain employed upon completion of the VR program than are similar people not exposed to the intervention.

The research design is a randomized, controlled, field experiment comparing the vocational outcomes of a group receiving a two-part intervention to those not receiving the intervention. The design allows us to evaluate separately each component of the intervention. The intervention consists of training sessions to help prospective VR clients with ARMD successfully enter and complete the VR program, and training sessions for a randomly selected group of VR professionals to help them serve VR clients with ARMD more effectively.

If this intervention strategy can significantly increase (1) VR utilization rates; (2) post-service employment rates; and (3) length of post-service employment in a previously underserved group with historically poor VR outcomes, it could have a significant role in reducing the immense impact, nationally, of work disability due to ARMD.

Enrollment: 326 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 55 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Resident of Alabama
• Previously employed
• Currently unemployed due to musculoskeletal disability
• Feel capable of work
• Want to work

Exclusion criteria

• Not a resident of Alabama
• Unable to work

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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326 participants in 2 patient groups, including a placebo group

Enrollment Intervention

Active Comparator group

Description:

The intervention consists of training sessions to help prospective VR clients with ARMD successfully enter and complete the vocational rehabilitation (VR) program, and training sessions for a randomly selected group of VR professionals to help them serve VR clients with ARMD more effectively.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Vocational counseling intervention

Behavioral: Reading materials for control participants

Usual Care

Placebo Comparator group

Treatment:

Behavioral: Standard of care