Disability Management and Workplace Integration: International Research Findings

From its origins in the late 1980s, the practice of Disability Management (DM) has gained more and more attention in many countries worldwide. DM is perceived and understood to be an important approach to reducing the negative impact for workers and the company, of absence due to illness and accidents, and to assisting those with disabilities to enter or re-enter the workplace.This book reflects the intensive discussion of disability management that has taken place over recent years, closely connected to the replacement of the welfare state with welfare- through-workfare strategies. Whereas during the 1990s, DM became established in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and to some extent the USA, more recently it has been European countries that have been seeking to promote the approach in order to reduce illness related costs and in the long run to avoid unemployment, early retirement and costs to the welfare state. Research on DM has been limited, so literature on the theory and history, research, and implementation of DM is rare.With contributions from leading researchers from around the World, this volume collates the existing knowledge of how DM has developed during the last three decades in different countries; explores the basic theoretical issues of DM; presents current research findings from different countries; and gives insight into the currently ongoing debate about methodology and implementation of disability management strategies and programmes, highlighting the critical debate about the implications of a more strict cost-benefit approach to Social Work theory and practice.Professionals involved in workplace integration, researchers approaching workplace integration from a variety of perspectives such as sociology; rehabilitative medicine; psychology; education; social policy; and economics, and students on a range of courses, will appreciate this valuable book.