Abstract
Objectives
To quantify the need for, and interest in, supported employment (SE) among recent
military veterans with traumatic brain injury (TBI); and to examine characteristics
associated with veterans' interest in SE.
Design
Stratified random sample of Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans confirmed to have TBI
through the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) screening and evaluation system.
Setting
Community-based via mailed survey.
Participants
We recruited 1800 veterans with clinician-confirmed TBI (mild TBI: n=1080; moderate/severe
TBI: n=720) through multiple mailings. Among 1451 surveys that were not returned undeliverable,
N=616 (42%) responded.
Interventions
Not applicable.
Main Outcome Measures
Veterans rated their interest in SE after reading a script describing the program.
Additional measures assessed mental health and pain-related comorbidities, employment,
financial/housing difficulties, demographics, and military service characteristics.
Estimates were weighted to represent the population of veterans with VHA clinician-confirmed
TBI.
Results
Unemployment was reported by 45% (95% confidence interval [CI], 43–47) of veterans
with TBI. Although 42% (95% CI, 40–44) reported they would be interested in using
SE if it were offered to them, only 12% had heard of SE (95% CI, 11–14) and <1% had
used it. TBI severity and comorbidities were not associated with veterans' interest
in SE. However, those who were unemployed, looking for work, experiencing financial
strain, or at risk for homelessness were more likely to be interested in SE.
Conclusions
Our research highlights an important gap between veterans' vocational needs and interests
and their use of SE. Systematically identifying and referring those with employment
and financial/housing difficulties may help close this gap.
Keywords
List of abbreviations:
CI (confidence interval), OEF/OIF/OND (Operations Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, and New Dawn), OR (odds ratio), PTSD (posttraumatic stress disorder), SE (supported employment), TBI (traumatic brain injury), VA (Department of Veterans Affairs), VHA (Veterans Health Administration)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: August 03, 2017
Footnotes
Supported by the Veterans Health Administration, Health Services Research and Development Service (PPO 13-123; CDA 08-025).
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the Department of Veterans Affairs or the U.S. government.
Publication of this article was supported by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine.
Disclosures: none.
Identification
Copyright
Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine
