Practice motivated research: Application of an evidence-informed prognostic model in vocational rehabilitation to increase the chance of employment at closure
Affiliations: [a] iServiceX, Inc., Marietta, GA, USA
| [b]
Marriott School of Business, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, USA
Correspondence:
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Address for correspondence: Nnaoke Ufere, iServiceX, Inc., Marietta, GA, USA. Tel.: +1 404 788 5332; E-mail: nufere@iservicex.com.
Abstract: BACKGROUND:We argue that relevant research must focus on a problem of practice. We demonstrate this approach by developing a new product for practice to help counselors make informed vocational rehabilitation decisions. With only 18.7% of persons with disabilities employed in 2017, an accurate and simple prognostic tool could improve the effectiveness of the Individualized Plan for Employment and thus assist persons with disabilities to live independent lives. OBJECTIVE:To demonstrate the validity and practical relevance of a counseling decision support tool that accurately predicts clients’ employment outcomes based on demographic characteristics and vocational rehabilitation factors. METHODS:Using a historical sample of 53,629 persons with disabilities who completed vocational rehabilitation in a state agency, we derived our prediction model using logistic regression with 90-day employment as the outcome. RESULTS:The final prognostic model was derived from 12 client demographics and 20 vocational rehabilitation factors. The model correctly classified the outcome for 72% of the clients and demonstrated strong calibration and discrimination. The resulting app is available here: www.ablescore.com. CONCLUSIONS:AbleScore accurately classifies client probability of employment at closure. The app therefore has immediate application in providing evidence-informed rehabilitation counseling to people with disabilities to improve the odds of employment at closure.
