Improving Transition to Employment for Youth With Physical Disabilities: Protocol for a Peer Electronic Mentoring Intervention

Abstract

BackgroundAlthough youth with disabilities have much to gain from employment readiness programs, they are often excluded from or have limited access to vocational programs. One encouraging approach to address gaps in vocational programming is through peer electronic mentoring (e-mentoring), which may facilitate a smoother transition to adulthood by offering support to enhance coping skills. Despite the increase in online communities, little is known about their impact on vocational mentoring for youth with physical disabilities and their parents.ObjectiveThe aim of this paper is to develop, implement, and assess the feasibility of an online peer mentor employment readiness intervention for youth with physical disabilities and their parents to improve their self-determination, career maturity, and social support compared to controls.MethodsA mixed-methods feasibility randomized controlled trial (RCT) design will be conducted to develop and assess the feasibility, acceptability, and initial efficacy of the “Empowering Youth Towards Employment” intervention. Youth (aged 15 to 25) with physical disabilities and their parents will be randomly assigned to a control or experimental group (4-week, interactive intervention, moderated by peer mentors).ResultsData collection is in progress. Planned analyses include pre-post measures to determine the impact of the intervention on self-determination, career maturity, and social support. A qualitative thematic analysis of the discussion forums will complement the surveys to better understand why certain outcomes may have occurred.ConclusionsOur intervention includes evidence-informed content and was co-created by a multi-disciplinary group of researchers and knowledge users. It has the potential for widespread implications as a cost-effective resource to supplement educational and vocational programming for youth with disabilities.Trial RegistrationClinicaltrials.gov NCT02522507; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02522507 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6uD58Pvjc)

A 4-Week Electronic-Mentoring Employment Intervention for Youth With Physical Disabilities: Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

“…We followed the Medical Research Council Framework for the development and evaluation of RCTs to guide our design [30]. We focused on the development and feasibility phase to ascertain the theoretical foundations and to assess the feasibility of intervention components [6,30]. The intervention group received mentorship from trained youth mentors who guided them through 12 module topics in a Web-based forum [6].…”

“…We focused on the development and feasibility phase to ascertain the theoretical foundations and to assess the feasibility of intervention components [6,30]. The intervention group received mentorship from trained youth mentors who guided them through 12 module topics in a Web-based forum [6]. The control group only had access to the Web-based modules and did not receive mentorship.…”

“…We recruited youth from a pediatric rehabilitation hospital from April 2017 to August 2018. A researcher sent invitation letters to potentially eligible participants meeting the following inclusion criteria: able to read and write in English, aged 15 to 25 years with a physical disability, have access to a computing device with internet access, currently enrolled in or recently completed a high school diploma in the applied or academic stream, and have no paid work experience [6]. We define disability as an impairment, activity limitation, or participation restriction whereby a disability and functioning are shaped by interactions between health conditions and contextual factors [33].…”

“…A similar pattern exists for youth aged 15 to 19 years where 40% of those with disabilities are employed compared with 51% of youth without disabilities [3]. Gaining employment skills is important because engagement in paid employment is a social determinant of health that is linked with improving independence and quality of life [4-6]. Many youth with disabilities would like to work and are capable of doing so but encounter many barriers in preparing for and finding employment [7-9].…”

“…Employment preparation programs are often not designed to meet the needs of youth with physical disabilities [6,11]. Although some programs exist, they are mostly focused on youth with developmental or intellectual disabilities.…”