College of Education, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.
Peckham Inc, Lansing, MI, USA.
Disabil Rehabil Assist Technol. 2024 Jul;19(5):1899-1906. doi: 10.1080/17483107.2023.2249502. Epub 2023 Aug 23.
Supported employment is a promising vocational rehabilitation intervention for improving disability employment. Its implementation, however, is not without challenges. Lack of funding and the heavy caseload of job coaches significantly constrain its impacts. A mobile software, avail® by CentralReach, was created based on the individual placement and support model for assisting individuals with disabilities to perform their job tasks. The purpose of this pilot study was to explore the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of avail.
A total of 17 participants with disabilities were recruited in a Midwestern state from the United States to try avail for a period of time ranging from 40 to 348 days. Participants' experiences, including perceived usability, acceptance, and satisfaction, were collected to determine the feasibility of avail. In addition, a pre- and post-intervention analysis was conducted to identify its effects on users' job satisfaction, self-efficacy, and self-determination.
Participants of this study expressed positive user experience for avail. Specifically, they felt that avail was helpful for their job performance. The results also showed a statistically significant result for improving participants' self-determination.
avail is a feasible and potentially promising application for assisting workers with disabilities in their job performance. Directly available on mobile devices, avail has several advantages, such as real-time support and good portability. Suggestions and future directions were discussed for further software development.
支持性就业是一种有前途的职业康复干预措施，可提高残疾人的就业能力。然而，其实施并非没有挑战。资金不足和职业指导员的工作量过大严重限制了其影响。CentralReach 公司根据个体安置和支持模式创建了一款名为 avail 的移动软件，用于帮助残疾人士完成工作任务。本试点研究的目的是探索 avail 的可行性和初步效果。
从美国中西部的一个州招募了 17 名残疾参与者，让他们试用 avail 的时间从 40 天到 348 天不等。收集参与者的体验，包括可用性、接受度和满意度，以确定 avail 的可行性。此外，还进行了干预前后的分析，以确定它对用户工作满意度、自我效能和自我决定的影响。
本研究的参与者对 avail 表达了积极的用户体验。具体来说，他们认为 avail 对他们的工作表现有帮助。结果还表明，avail 对提高参与者的自我决定能力有统计学意义。
avail 是一种可行且有潜力的应用程序，可帮助残疾人士提高工作表现。avail 直接在移动设备上使用，具有实时支持和良好的便携性等优势。讨论了进一步软件开发的建议和未来方向。
