Achieving a successful and sustainable return to the workforce after ABI: a client-centred approach

This paper describes the approach used by the Victorian Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) specialist team of CRS Australia (formerly Commonwealth Rehabilitation Service) to facilitate participation in the workforce for its clients. The approach and results achieved are compared and contrasted with other models nationally and internationally.

This two part study involves a survey of the specialist team members regarding use and efficacy of assessment and intervention strategies and data mining of closed case files to identify predictors of sustainable employment outcomes for people with ABI.

CRS Australia's results compare favourably with other published results (50% achieved a minimum of 13 weeks open employment compared to population estimates of 38-46.5%). Results were achieved with people with mild, moderate and severe injury. Assessments and interventions that correlate with successful employment outcome are described.

A client-centred approach, combining specialist ABI expertise, skilled assessment and practical workplace-based interventions results in favourable employment outcome rates.