Piloting an Occupational Therapist-Led Disability-Inclusion Program for Business Professionals and Leaders.

IMPORTANCE

Adults with disabilities remain vastly underrepresented in work roles, which contributes to additional financial, health, well-being, and social disparities. Innovative, disability justice-informed solutions are needed to bridge knowledge-to-practice gaps and improve the participation of adults with disabilities in meaningful employment.

OBJECTIVE

To explore the impact of an evidence-based, occupational therapist-led professional development workshop to improve knowledge of, skills in, and attitudes toward implementing disability-inclusive workplace practices.

DESIGN

Mixed-methods, pre-post quality improvement project.

SETTING

A secure online video communication platform.

PARTICIPANTS

All employees of a global corporation were invited to participate. Ninety-seven participants were recruited via nonprobability convenience sampling.

INTERVENTION

A live, open-group, 60-min virtual workshop session informed by disability justice and occupational therapy frameworks with synchronous learning activities and assessments.

OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

An adapted version of the Theoretical Domains Framework survey, informal open-ended surveys to capture participants' understandings of disability, an informal survey of performance analysis skills, and a qualitative survey to obtain post-session feedback were administered.

RESULTS

Considerable improvements were noted across self-reported knowledge, skills, positive emotions, and positive perceptions of disabled inclusive workplace strategy implementation. Major themes in responses to programming included increased empathy, gaining knowledge and skills, reporting engaging content, and finding a disability-inclusive community.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

Participation in disability justice and occupational therapy-informed programs may improve disabled and nondisabled business professionals' knowledge of, skills in, and attitudes toward disability-inclusive workplaces. Occupational therapy practitioners may serve as peers and leaders in large corporate environments. Plain-Language Summary: This study explored the impact of an evidence-based development workshop led by an occupational therapist to improve knowledge of, skills in, and attitudes toward implementing disability-inclusive workplace practices. Employees of a global corporation were invited to participate in a 60-min virtual workshop. On the basis of employee responses, the study found considerable improvements across self-reported knowledge, skills, positive emotions, and positive perceptions of implementing programs designed with occupational therapy and disability justice principles. Major themes from the employee responses included increased empathy, gaining knowledge and skills, reporting engaging content, and finding a disability-inclusive community. These findings suggest that programs designed with occupational therapy and disability justice principles may help bridge knowledge-to-practice gaps. Such solutions may offer business professionals and leaders the tools and perspectives needed to better support disability-inclusive workplaces. These more inclusive work environments may secondarily support more equitable disability work participation. This study also highlights the value of occupational therapy practitioners in interprofessional settings beyond health care, including large corporate environments.