Evaluating Ohios Injured Workers For Vocational Rehabilitation Utilizing The Menninger Return To Work Scale

Download or read book Evaluating Ohio's Injured Workers for Vocational Rehabilitation Utilizing the Menninger Return to Work Scale written by John Harry Tooson and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Abstract: Predicting the return to work for individuals who have become disabled has been an area under investigation for vocational rehabilitation for several years. For the workers' compensation programs, the infusion of vocational rehabilitation programs add a different and significant problem for industrially injured workers. The vocational rehabilitation programs under these agencies were created to work with a specialized group of individuals who have a greater opportunity to return to work because of their unique work experience. Workers' compensation industrial vocational rehabilitation face the same issues as does the state-federal vocational rehabilitation system, and that is how to determine allocation of funding for appropriate vocational rehabilitation services to increase successful outcomes. In conjunction with the issue of allocation is the predictability of a successful outcome. The Menninger Return to Work Scale (MRTWS) was created from a sample of long-term disability clients. Utilizing specific variables, a determination as to the likelihood of an individual returning to work or not returning to work, can be developed. In this study, an evaluation of the scale2s practical application to the Ohio Workers2 Compensation system was examined. The variables of age, disability, marital status, area of residence, gender, type of employer, length of time in rehabilitation program, attorney representation, wage replacement, were studied to determine their impact on the return to work. The Chi-square test and the t-Test were used to determine if differences exist between the return to work group and the non-return to work group. The return to work group and the non-return to work group were found to be not significantly different for each variable in the study. The scale created for Ohio Bureau of Worker2s Compensation clients will provide some justification for the decisions made with regard to entering a client into a vocational rehabilitation program and in determining the level of support that will be necessary to bring the case to a positive resolution. Other uses for the scale are explored and recommendations are made for other possible studies to enhance the use of the Menninger Return to Work Scale.