ABSTRACT
Vocational rehabilitation (VR) is the overall process of 'enabling individuals with either temporary or permanent disability to access, return to, or to remain in employment'. This chapter VR refers broadly to the process of assisting people to enter, return to and/or remain in employment, education/training or alternative occupation. VA involves a global appraisal of an individual's work/training background, general functional capacities and social/behavioural characteristics. Observations from VR activities and/or employers' reports allow completion of both a structured functional work assessment and vocational rating scales the Functional Assessment Inventory (FAI) and the Work Personality Profile (WPP), both standardised on people with all forms of disability. An ABI Vocational Case Co-ordinator model in Minnesota included the following elements: integration of vocational goals into rehabilitation; assessing vocational readiness; developing return to work (RTW) plans; providing vocational counselling/evaluation and adjustment-to-disability counselling; linking with VR services.
