NCT05506657

Early Intervention to Promote Return to Work for People With Spinal Cord Injury

• Status: Not Yet Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 162 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Kessler Foundation · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 62 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

For many people with spinal cord injury, seeking employment after injury is an important goal. There are services available to help people with disabilities. However, the best ways to coordinate and deliver these services are not yet known. This project will compare two ways of coordinating and delivering services that are designed to help people with spinal cord injury obtain employment.

Detailed description

Employment is important for financial security, social connection, and life satisfaction. Unfortunately, rates of unemployment remain high among people with spinal cord injury (SCI). To help address this challenge, the Northern New Jersey Spinal Cord Injury System (NNJSCIS) is conducting a single-site, randomized, controlled trial to compare two programs intended to increase rates of employment among people with SCI. The project will enroll 162 recently injured adults with SCI who are interested in becoming employed or returning to work and will compare different ways of delivering employment-related services in the first year after injury. Services will begin in inpatient rehabilitation and may include education, therapy, equipment provision, counseling, and other interventions. Information about employment status, earnings, community participation, and health will be collected through a combination of questionnaires and databases. Participants and service providers will also share their impressions of the programs via survey and focus groups. Analyses will examine the rate of participants employed at 1 year in each group, time to employment, earnings, community participation, and other aspects of well-being. Findings from this study will be used to determine which ways of delivering services are most effective in enabling employment by 1 year after injury, and to provide information to help other rehabilitation centers adopt effective programs.

Conditions

• Spinal Cord Injuries
• Spinal Cord Diseases

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	State Counselor-Coordinated Services	A counselor affiliated with the New Jersey State Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services coordinates services that consider the participant's condition, needs and goals. Services participants may receive include: * Education on programs designed to help people with spinal cord injury or brain injury pursue employment. * Advice and guidance from professional counselors who have special training in helping people with disabilities pursue employment. * Help completing applications for services. * Assistance communicating with my employer about my needs and ways to accommodate them. * Referrals to and services from other health care or technology providers.
OTHER	Center Facilitator-Coordinated Services	A facilitator affiliated with Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation coordinates services that consider the participant's condition, needs and goals. Services participants may receive include: * Education on programs designed to help people with spinal cord injury or brain injury pursue employment. * Advice and guidance from professional counselors who have special training in helping people with disabilities pursue employment. * Help completing applications for services. * Assistance communicating with my employer about my needs and ways to accommodate them. * Referrals to and services from other health care or technology providers.

Timeline

• Start date: 2022-09-30
• Primary completion: 2026-02-28
• Completion: 2026-08-31
• First posted: 2022-08-18
• Last updated: 2022-08-18