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OpenTrials
Completed

NCT Number: NCT00000407

Improving Vocational Outcomes in Arthritis

The long-term objectives of this research project are to enhance program participation and improve the employment prospects of people with work disability due to arthritis and related musculoskeletal disorders (ARMD) who are actively seeking vocational (job-related) rehabilitation (VR) services.

This study is designed to compare the employment situations of a group of people receiving a two-part intervention and a group that is not receiving the intervention. The intervention consists of training sessions to help prospective VR clients with ARMD successfully enter and complete the VR program, and training sessions for a randomly selected group of VR professionals to help them serve VR clients with ARMD more effectively.

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Key information

Conditions

Arthritis Connective Tissue Diseases Joint Diseases Musculoskeletal Diseases Rheumatic Diseases Skin and Connective Tissue Diseases

Age range

18 year–55 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Phase 2

Primary location

University of Alabama at Birmingham

Birmingham, Alabama, 35294, United States

About this study

The long-term objectives of this research project are to enhance program participation and improve the vocational outcomes of people with work disability due to arthritis and related musculoskeletal disorders (ARMD) who are actively seeking vocational rehabilitation services.

Some researchers think that people with work disability due to ARMD seeking vocational rehabilitation (VR) services who are exposed to an "agency access intervention" are more likely to gain entrance to the VR system and be determined eligible for services than are similar people not exposed to the intervention. Further, they think that people with work disability due to ARMD who are determined to be eligible for VR services, and who are exposed to an "agency enhancement intervention" while receiving services, are more likely to become and remain employed upon completion of the VR program than are similar people not exposed to the intervention.

The research design is a randomized, controlled, field experiment comparing the vocational outcomes of a group receiving a two-part intervention to those not receiving the intervention. The design allows us to evaluate separately each component of the intervention. The intervention consists of training sessions to help prospective VR clients with ARMD successfully enter and complete the VR program, and training sessions for a randomly selected group of VR professionals to help them serve VR clients with ARMD more effectively.

If this intervention strategy can significantly increase (1) VR utilization rates; (2) post-service employment rates; and (3) length of post-service employment in a previously underserved group with historically poor VR outcomes, it could have a significant role in reducing the immense impact, nationally, of work disability due to ARMD.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Resident of Alabama
  • Previously employed
  • Currently unemployed due to musculoskeletal disability
  • Feel capable of work
  • Want to work

Exclusion criteria

  • Not a resident of Alabama
  • Unable to work

Treatment and study plan

Vocational counseling intervention

Behavioral

Reading materials for control participants

Behavioral

Standard of Care

Behavioral

No education or behavioral intervention

Primary outcomes

  1. Improved vocational outcomes

    Time frame: baseline to 30 months

    The long-term objectives of this research project are to enhance program participation and improve the vocational outcomes of people with work disability due to arthritis and related musculoskeletal disorders (ARMD) who are actively seeking vocational rehabilitation services.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University of Alabama at Birmingham

Other

Collaborators

  • National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS)

Registry information

Important dates

Study start
1997
Study completion
2001
First posted
Nov 4, 1999
Registry last updated
Jan 6, 2016

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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