This study investigated fatigue and anger in people with SCI. Participants were 27 adults with SCI living in the community (males = 26, females = 1; mean age = 50 years, SD = 9.47 years) and a comparison group of 27 other adults without SCI. Data about their experience of fatigue and anger were collected using the Chalder Fatigue Scale and the Profile of Mood States. Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA by ranks and chi-square analyses were used to determine whether the SCI participants had elevated levels of fatigue and anger than the typical or noninjured community group. Persons with SCI reported significantly elevated fatigue and elevated levels of anger than typical others. These findings are discussed with reference to adjustment following SCI, and interpreted in light of the Stress Appraisal and Coping Model (SAC) of adjustment following SCI.

Despite the high prevalence of withdrawal from employment gained post-traumatic spinal cord injury (tSCI), relatively few studies have examined the factors that precipitate job withdrawal. Within the context of general systems theory, the aim of the present study was to identify and classify the factors that led to job withdrawal post-tSCI. Using purposive sampling and a structured proforma, 30 participants completed an in-depth telephone interview. Job withdrawal was precipitated more frequently by micro-system (person-centred) factors or meso-system (job-related) factors than macro-system (socio-economic) factors. Micro-system factors fell into five groups (SCI-related, psychological/psychosocial, mobility, general health and knowledge/skills/abilities) as did meso-system factors (job design, psychosocial climate, ergonomics, human resources and work cycles). Two groups of macro-system factors were identified (proximal and distal). Classifying job withdrawal factors within the context of general systems theory provides an integrated framework for intervention development and furnishes decision-makers with guidance as to whether a top-down or bottom-up approach would be more feasible/beneficial to address preventable job withdrawal post-tSCI.

This article reviews the research evidence on vocational rehabilitation services and rehabilitation counselling practice with Indigenous Australians. It applied a context sensitive, cultural safety and reflexivity approach to construct salient themes from the research evidence. Findings suggest Indigenous Australians with disabilities experience significant ‘double-disadvantage’, and that vocational rehabilitation service providers lack the knowledge and skills in culturally safe practice in order to enhance the opportunities for social and economic inclusion of Indigenous Australians. A whole-of-profession approach, incorporating and ensuring Indigenous client equity and cultural safety in vocational rehabilitation, is critically and urgently needed.

In this paper the ageing labour force, changing labour force participation rates, and age discrimination in the world of work, especially as exhibited in employer practices, are discussed. Implications of these phenomena for what rehabilitation counsellors do are proposed by way of discussion points on the topics of vocational and rehabilitation counselling, job analysis and placement, professional advocacy and community programs, and training of older workers.

The main principles and practices of cognitive-behavioural therapies are briefly outlined and discussed in terms of their relevance to counselling individuals with physical disabilities. The cognitive-behavioural therapies of Beck, Ellis, and Nezu to counselling persons with physical disabilities are specifically presented. A case study involving the application of cognitive-behavioural therapies to counselling a person with severe facial and hand burn injuries is also presented. The view is advanced that although cognitive-behavioural therapies have considerable potential in counselling of persons with physical disabilities, lack of conceptual clarity of some central constructs in cognitive-behavioral therapy is a limitation to practice in rehabilitation settings. The paucity of controlled research studies in this area of study is noted, and suggestions are offered for further research.

People with disabilities often face physical, social, and psychological barriers in daily life because of inaccessible structures and disability prejudice. The online medium's physically, nontaxing capacity for participation as well as a lack of visually mediated cues can potentially eliminate such barriers. This study discursively explored the psychological meaning of what it meant to be online for people with disabilities, focusing on possibilities for operating beyond their standard practices in daily life. Participants were recruited from various disability organisations in New Zealand and were invited to take part in an online interview. The notion of transcending barriers to participation formed a broad pattern in participants' data. This talk comprised 3 linguistic resources: life-altering, overcoming physical barriers, and disconnecting disability. Each resource offered participants a highly positive and significant transformation in subjectivity, enabling people with disabilities to be positioned as equal members of society.

This study sought to identify influences on rehabilitation counsellors' preference to work in rural areas, including their recruitment to, and retention in, rural work settings. Participants were 38 practicing rehabilitation counsellors (31% males) recruited through the Australian Society of Rehabilitation Counsellors and the Rehabilitation Counselling Association of Australasia. The mean age of participants was 38.67 years (SD = 12.9 years, age range, 25 to 65 years). Nineteen (50%) were working in rural areas at the time of the survey. A specifically designed survey, the Work Setting Preference Inventory (WSPI), which incorporated both quantitative and qualitative response options, was used to collect data. Analysis involved open coding of data into themes that emerged from the participants' responses. Descriptive statistical analysis was applied to quantify the prevalence or salience of particular themes. Results suggest that participants perceived preference to work in rural area to be influenced by the unique lifestyle of rural communities and family friendly employer policies. They perceived the availability of employment and training opportunities and supplemental financial compensations as incentives to attract rehabilitation counsellors to work in rural areas. Programs to recruit rehabilitation counsellors to rural areas should address employee lifestyle preferences in the context their overall career development.

People born in non-English Speaking Countries (NESCs) and resident in Australia make up 14.2% of the Australian population and a sizeable proportion of the current immigration program — the humanitarian and non-humanitarian components. This article presents some background about the numbers of overseas born people resident in Australia especially those from NESCs, a brief history of the Australian immigration program, and the present policy of multiculturalism in the context of settlement. Some of these overseas born people have already, or are likely to, participate in rehabilitation counselling, and it is argued that rehabilitation counselling processes will be enhanced with a knowledge of such clients' culture as well as the practical application of general cross-cultural casework skills.

Occupational stress has become a critical issue for many organisations and individuals in terms of costs to productivity and health. Effective rehabilitation intervention can markedly reduce these costs, yet a successful return to work is often fraught with difficulty due to the plethora of issues contained under the heading of occupational stress. An approach to case analysis and individual assessment has been developed in New South Wales, Australia to assist case managers employed by the Commonwealth Rehabilitation Service in the provision of efficacious rehabilitation programs, with the focus on return to work, for individuals with occupational stress.

This review of the literature sought to highlight key barriers to the implementation of rehabilitation-based interventions in an aged care facility context. It then identifies how such barriers might be actively countered with a view to facilitating rehabilitation-based strategies within such contexts. Key barriers identified included staffing issues, heterogeneity of residents, and the potential complexity behind establishing appropriate forms of rehabilitation for the residents. The most successful facilitators identified included training, the provision of appropriate support, and an open communication process. Having an awareness and an appreciation of potential barriers to the use of rehabilitation interventions in aged care facilities provides the opportunity to actively plan around them, thereby increasing and improving their use.

This study examined the efficacy of an evidence based supportive leadership program to address psychosocial hazards identified in an organisational health review of a pastoral care organisation. Participants were employees and volunteers identified as having supervisory or management roles (N = 24; M = 11, F = 13; Age Range = 24 to 68), including the Senior Leadership Team (SLT; n = 7). The supportive leadership program was implemented over a 12-month period with follow-up over another 12-month period. Organisational health was measured through the use of the Health and Safety Executive Indicator Tool (HSE, 2004b) and qualitative interview data at pre-intervention and at 12- and 24-month follow-up. The results of the HSE Tool were compared over time, utilising the comparison benchmarks provided by the HSE (2004b). Results indicated notable improvements in organisational health within the SLT with reductions in risk status at 24-month follow-up across the domains of Control, Managerial Support, Peer Support, Relationships, Role and Change. Supportive leadership is a key predictor in organisational health and burnout, and importance in improving organisational health across managers.

The prevalence of autism spectrum disorders is currently on the rise nationwide. Approximately one fifth of all individuals with autism and related disorders function within the normal range of intelligence, and may, in fact, possess superior intelligence in certain areas. Despite this, many individuals with high functioning autism and Asperger's syndrome are not competitively employed. The challenges that such individuals experience in securing and maintaining employment are often just as severe as those for individuals with more limited intellectual functioning. Characteristics of high functioning autism and Asperger's syndrome are described, and recommendations for how rehabilitation counsellors and other professionals can best support the employment pursuits of individuals with the disorders are provided.

Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is a frequently occurring event that has a strong and lasting impact on adult functioning. A significant percentage of adults who are sexually abused as children subsequently meet the diagnostic criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and demonstrate an increased vulnerability toward further traumatisation. Despite the likelihood that rehabilitation counsellors will encounter clients with this history, published literature on the contribution of rehabilitation counsellors to work with adults who were abused as children is limited. This report discusses ways rehabilitation counsellors can contribute to the inter-professional collaboration required to achieve a reduction in impact of disability and handicap associated with the long-term impact of CSA.

Rehabilitation counsellors have long been interested in back injuries among at-risk occupational groups such as nurses. Back injuries have a high prevalence among nurses, with enormous financial costs being incurred by health agencies and governments. Consequently the prevention of back injuries is a high priority for all concerned. Following a discussion of prevalence studies and risk factors for back injuries, we selectively review research on the effectiveness of multi-component (education and exercises) preventive programs designed specifically for nurses. While there is some empirical support for preventive programs, research in the area is still in its infancy. Looking at the broader picture, we conclude that preventive efforts must ultimately address the design of the workplace and the availability of proper equipment. Importantly, nursing unions and governments are moving towards “no lifting” policies and re-organisation of work practices. For effective rehabilitation, though, of those who do suffer back injuries, the adoption of a Workplace Disability Management approach (rather the traditional OH&S and return to work services provided by health and rehabilitation professionals) is advocated.

Research on managing challenging behaviour in children and young people with disabilities is becoming increasingly complex as a guide to best practice. There continues to be an outpouring of single-case studies conducted in the traditional research methods and conceptual models of applied behaviour analysis. In contrast, there is growing recognition of the importance of context, social systems, and cultural values, not only in understanding the causes of challenging behaviour, but in the design of interventions and the evaluation of rehabilitative treatments. A ‘third wave’ of educative intervention approaches attempts to integrate these two perspectives within concepts of positive behaviour support. We offer practitioners some guidance to the extant empirical literature by bringing together the most promising themes within this rapprochement.

This study investigated the efficacy of a combined modified cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and motivational interviewing (MI) approach on motivating persons with intellectual disabilities (ID) in obtaining employment. The sample consisted of a total of 52 individuals with ID who were clients of an independent vocational-rehabilitation services provider (females = 42%; males = 58%), ranging in age from 19 to 47. They were randomly assigned to an intervention group (n = 26) and a control group (n = 26). The intervention group received a combined modified CBT and MI intervention and the control group a fact sheet on career-dysfunctional thoughts and lack of motivation to obtain employment. Outcome measures comprised a career-dysfunctional thoughts scale and employment seeking action scale. Results indicated that the intervention group reported higher motivation in obtaining employment than the control. Practitioners seeking to improve employment prospects for persons with ID should consider the use of a combined modified CBT and MI intervention for increasing the chances of employment seeking by people with ID.

This study of young adults with disabilities in transition explored what factors contributed to young adults with disabilities terminating early from a transition program. Data from 6,227 young adults with disabilities aged 17–22 living in one of eight major metropolitan areas in the United States were utilised (58.7% of the sample were male, 63.1% were African-American, and 71.4% had a learning disability). All participants were enrolled in a school-to-work transition programme in which service providers place students into paid internships. Service providers at the eight sites collected data while working with participants, and then collected follow-up data at three and twelve months post-programme completion or termination. Hierarchical Linear Modelling was used to explore how personal factors impacted early termination, while controlling for variation at the site level. Results showed the three main reasons for early termination from work to be: programme initiated termination, interpersonal conflicts with coworkers or supervisors and transportation issues. Additionally, the multilevel model that controlled for variance at the site level demonstrated that Asian-American young adults with disabilities were less likely to terminate early from work. These results can help individuals who work with young adults with disabilities, provide supplemental services to students who may need additional assistance to succeed in a transition programme.

The impact of compensable injury on moods was investigated in 106 individuals using the Visual Analog Mood Scales. Results indicated markedly negatively skewed distributions of ratings on being Sad, Energetic, Tired, Happy, or Tense. A contrasting pattern of positive and negative mood responses was evident. There were notable differences in mood conditions between different types of injuries: (a) anger and tiredness featured in brain injury; (b) sadness and tiredness characterized psychological injuries; and (c) most moods were moderate across musculoskeletal injuries with the possible exception of being energetic. The extent of psychological problems was related to mood levels.