Microaggressions play a prominent role in the cultural competency of the rehabilitation professionals. Understanding these biases and stereotypes faced by the individuals living with HIV/AIDS from a social justice and systemic perspective is crucial to become a culturally competent rehabilitation counselor. The current article is a systematic review of the anecdotal and scientific literature from 1900 to 2017 about these microaggressions toward individuals with HIV/AIDS. Authors present the common themes that emerged out of this extensive qualitative analysis by utilizing the Urie Bronfenbrenner's ecological model as a basis and discuss its impact from a social justice perspective. Implications for rehabilitation counselors and future recommendations are presented at the end.

This article presents an analysis of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in relation to prior United Nations conventions on disability and U.S. disability policy law with a view to identifying the conventional and also the incremental advances of the CRPD. Previous United Nations conventions related to disability have had, at best, partial success in effectively protecting the human rights of individuals with disabilities. The CRPD, as a policy instrument, has considerable potential for advancing the legal rights of persons with disabilities in the United States and globally. This article reviews this potential from national and international perspectives and explores the implications of the CRPD for rehabilitation counseling advocacy and education.

Purpose: The purpose of this conceptual article is to present a framework that incorporates the concept of culture humility into effective rehabilitation services.

Method: Based on a comprehensive literature review and theoretical integration, this article provides the reader with the basic concept of cultural humility, similarities and differences between cultural humility and cultural competence, and significance of the cultural humility concept to rehabilitation counseling.

Results: The literature consistently describes the need for professionals to be culturally competent to effectively serve an increasingly diverse population. However, when using only a multicultural competency framework, counselors may have false beliefs about their competence in working with culturally diverse individuals, understate the power imbalance between service providers and clients, and ignore institutional (e.g., system, homophobia, racism) accountability. Cultural humility can directly address these issues and serve as a complement to cultural competence in rehabilitation counseling services given its emphasis on reflectivity, power differentials between counselors and clients, and institutional accountability.

Conclusion: Cultural humility can be applied to rehabilitation research, education, and practice. We need to broaden multicultural rehabilitation counseling through a cultural humility approach.

Purpose: To apply the constructs of social cognitive theory (SCT) and the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to understand the stages of change (SOC) for physical activities among individuals with a spinal cord injury (SCI).

Method: Ex post facto design using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). The participants were 144 individuals with SCI who completed an online SCT, TPB, and SOC for physical activities survey.

Results: Participants in the preintender, intender, and actor groups differed significantly in functional disability, secondary health conditions, exercise self-efficacy, perceived benefits and barriers, intention, and physical health.

Conclusion: Findings support the concept of stage-matching exercise and physical activity cognitive behavioral interventions for people with SCI.

Purpose: To determine the amount, frequency, and type of course content related to military counseling issues in Council on Rehabilitation Education (CORE)- and Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP)-accredited master’s-level counselor education programs.

Methods: A questionnaire was sent to all CORE- and CACREP-accredited program directors/coordinators (N = 383) via Microsoft Outlook e-mail system. The authors used the 6-item questionnaire to ask participants to report data in the following areas: (a) if their program offered a certificate program, specialty track, concentration, or degree program in military counseling; (b) if not, do they intend to add a stand-alone military counseling course, certificate program, specialty track, or degree program in military counseling; (c) if they currently have plans, how do they intend to deliver such topics within the structure of their curriculum or counselor education program; (d) if coursework already exists, how is it currently structured within their curriculum and counselor education program; and (e) 3 open-end questions requesting course titles; semester hours related to course content, curriculum, and/or concentration, and comments regarding student assignments and/or projects that are military related.

Results: Overall, out of 362 programs surveyed, 85 (23.4%) responded. All 85 of survey respondents indicated that they did not have a (a) certificate program, (b) specialty track, or (c) degree program that related to military counseling. Of the 85 programs, 34 schools (4.7%) had developed stand-alone courses that offered military counseling content. More than two-thirds of the 85 programs reported covering military counseling content in various courses across the curriculum.

Conclusion: None of the program directors/coordinators in this study indicated they had a specialty track, concentration, or certificate program. Some of the participants indicated they were considering adding additional seminars, courses, and other student experiences that would integrate assessment, diagnosis, and treatment for persons that are active-duty personnel and veterans. Overall, the data suggest that there is greater attention and a willingness among counselor educators to infuse military counseling–related coursework. This is promising because it is critical that preprofessionals and professionals alike be introduced to the emerging population of providing rehabilitation counseling services to military personnel, veterans, and their family members.

Purpose: This article conceptualizes teaching alliance as a framework to guide educators in teaching the affective components of working alliance (WA) through enhanced student–teacher relationships and augmented curricular focus on therapeutic bonds.

Method: Drawing on the extant literature, and integrating counseling and educational theory, this article reviews the origins and evolution of the WA, conceptualizing WA as an evidence-based practice, counselor competency, and hallmark of professional identity.

Results: Teaching alliance pedagogies are conceptualized across the curriculum, in clinical supervision, and as an innovative course designed to deepen understanding of the cognitively complex, affective components of WA. The article concludes with a discussion of implications for research, education, and practice.

Conclusion: Early and increased curricular focus on the nondirective aspects of the teacher–student relationship offers promise in facilitating students’ self-actualizing tendencies and the ultimate achievement of counselor competence and strong professional identity.

The historical evolution of the rehabilitation profession is addressed, and current issues facing rehabilitation educators and professionals are identified. Clearly, both our practice environments and our consumers are continuously evolving and becoming more diverse. Simultaneously, a need exists to be seen as a stable, unified profession. Specific issues including the continuing development of private rehabilitation licensure and accreditation, increasing consumer diversity, and movement toward evidence-based practices are identified as critical issues for rehabilitation educators and professionals.

We reviewed 11 well-recognized counseling theories, seeking those that best fit requirements of rehabilitation counselors and clients. We looked specifically for methods that were goal-oriented, supported counselor-client collaboration, and were person-centered, brief, and evidence based. Motivational Interviewing (MI) and Solution Focused Therapy (SFT) fit our criteria on four of five dimensions. We describe these two counseling modalities and illustrate techniques, using hypothetical examples from rehabilitation counseling contexts, and provide specific recommendations for rehabilitation educators.

The relationships among counselor personal states and work experiences (working alliance self-efficacy, burnout, flourishing, and caseload size) were investigated in a sample of rehabilitation counselors (N = 137). Results from regression analyses revealed 4 burnout factors are significantly and uniquely contributing to counselor flourishing levels. The results from a second model revealed that caseload size and working alliance efficacy are impacting overall burnout levels. The findings indicate that burnout and flourishing are strongly related to each other and may have implications for client outcomes. Counselors with high flourishing levels may shield clients from the negative effects of job related burnout. Caseload size is also contributing to burnout levels. Implications and recommendations for counselor self-care and workplace practices are discussed.

Unifying the field of rehabilitation counseling appears to be a daunting task. Many researchers have investigated this phenomenon and have also written position papers arguing for a specific identity perspective: either as a counseling specialty or as a separate profession. The current study examined beliefs about the field of rehabilitation counseling among trainees and investigated factors that influenced these beliefs. A scale was developed to collect data about perceptions of master's-level students in Council on Rehabilitation Education (CORE)-accredited training programs. Data were collected from 67 participants in 12 programs. Results indicated that two-thirds of trainees believed that rehabilitation counseling is a counseling specialty. Previous work experience of the trainees was most likely to influence this position.

Purpose: To examine the measurement structure of the Brief Adaptation to Disability Scale-Revised (B-ADS-R).

Measure: A 12-item measure of disability acceptance based on the four value changes (enlarging the scope of values, containing the effects of the disability, subordinating the physique, and transforming comparative-status values to asset values) postulated by Beatrice Wright.

Participants: 154 Taiwanese with spinal cord injury living in the community.

Results: The 4-factor intercorrelated model fits the data very well: χ²(48, N = 154) = 82.26, p < .01; χ²/df = 1.71; CFI = .95; RMSEA = .07 with 90% CI (.04, .09). The 4 B-ADS-R factors closely replicate the theoretical constructs of disability acceptance with acceptable reliability and validity.

Conclusion: The B-ADS-R was found to measure the four value changes postulated by Beatrice Wright in her disability acceptance theory in a sample of Taiwanese with SCI. It demonstrated adequate psychometric properties and can be used as a brief measure of disability acceptance in rehabilitation research and clinical practice.

Purpose: To determine methods of student learning assessment and clinical training in rehabilitation counseling programs. With many shifts occurring in postsecondary education and in rehabilitation counseling, it is critical to understand these current practices.

Method: The authors used an Internet-based survey design to solicit program approaches to student learning assessment and clinical training. Respondents (n = 34) provided description of assessments, perceived effectiveness, satisfaction, and brief comments on the strengths and weaknesses of the approaches employed by the program.

Results: Programs reported various assessments used during and at the completion of the training program. Programs also reported varied frequency and intensity of involvement with clinical placement, although most seek certified rehabilitation counselors as supervisors along with other professionals.

Conclusion: Strengthening assessment methods to be able to show that students possess the clinical skills and knowledge necessary to become effective counselors is a high priority for our field and will become increasingly necessary within the context of changing credentialing standards.

Objective: To examine the roles of attachment, social support, and coping as psychosocial correlates in predicting happiness in people with spinal cord injuries.

Design: Quantitative descriptive research design using multiple regression and correlation techniques.

Participants: 274 individuals with spinal cord injuries.

Outcome Measures: Happiness as measured by the Subjective Happiness Scale.

Results: Functional disability and psychosocial correlates including coping, attachment styles, and social support were found to be associated with happiness scores. Functional disability was found to have a large negative effect on happiness and the effect was significantly reduced after taking into consideration the effect of positive psychology factors.

Conclusion: Positive psychology variables are important for happiness and subjective well-being, and happiness in turn is related to better quality of life. The negative relationship between functional disability and happiness can be mediated by attachment, social support, and coping. Rehabilitation professionals should deemphasize negative characteristics related to poor psychological adjustment and focus on positive human traits and positive psychology interventions for people with disabilities.

The purpose of this study was to explore certified rehabilitation counselors’ (CRCs’) importance of and preparedness in the labor market survey (LMS) competency through data collected by the Knowledge Validation Inventory-Revised (KVI-R) instrument used by the Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification’s (CRCC) 2011 role and function study (CCRC, 2011b; Leahy, Chan, Sung, & Kim, 2011). LMS is a primary data collection method for gathering occupational and labor market information. Thus, this competency was examined because of its importance in the areas of rehabilitation counseling where this data is usually applied—transferable skills analysis, vocational decision making, job development and placement, and forensics. In this ex post facto secondary analysis, the single largest group of CRCs found LMS to be very to extremely important but also reported only moderate preparedness to perform the function. Significant differences were found by geographical location, particularly between the Mid and South Atlantic, and in experience. Discussion, conclusions, implications, and areas for further research are addressed.

Purpose: The aim of this work was to develop a campaign to promote an environment of solidarity and support on college campuses for students with mental illnesses.

Method: Data were gathered from 24 members of a Chicago university campus who were selected as representatives of key campus stakeholder groups including students, administrative staff, counseling center staff, residence life staff, and faculty. Participants attended focus groups and key-informant interviews during the fall of 2011.

Results: Qualitative analyses using grounded theory methodology revealed themes corresponding to two distinct overarching constructs: potential benefits of the campaign and potential concerns of the campaign.

Conclusion: Development of a campaign informed by these results to promote a supportive environment on college campuses for students with mental illnesses may have a positive impact on students’ outcomes.

Purpose: We sought to understand the experiences of family members and direct care staff of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in a private pay day program focused on socialization and recreational skills.

Method: Two focus groups were held with parents/caregivers and one with staff. Using an interpretive method, two investigators independently coded the transcripts and arrived at themes.

Results: Themes identified included transition, lack of information, lack of resources, caregiver needs, independence, employment, and education.

Conclusion: Families and staff experienced frustration with service fragmentation/access to alternative programming. Families and staff wanted opportunities for employment and independent living programming but lacked resources. Implications for practice and policy are discussed.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an unpredictable, sometimes progressive chronic illness affecting people in the prime of their working lives. This article reviews the effects of MS on employment based on the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health model. Correlations between employment and personal, functional, environmental, and participation factors are discussed along with the need for a framework for evidence-based practice regarding the employment of people with MS.

Objective: To determine the factorial validity of the Internal and External Motivation to Respond without Prejudice toward People with Disabilities Scale (D-IMS/EMS).

Design: A quantitative descriptive design using factor analysis.

Participants: 233 rehabilitation counseling and rehabilitation services students.

Results: Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis provided evidence for the 2-factor structure of the D-IMS/EMS. The internal motivation and external motivation factors were found to correlate with the Attitudes toward Disabled Persons—Form A and the Contact with Disabled Persons Scale in the predicted direction.

Conclusions: The D-IMS/EMS appears to have sufficient reliability and validity; the 2-factor solution was found to be acceptable. Further research with other groups of participants is needed.

The 2004 Council on Rehabilitation Education (CORE) standards were revised to include Human Growth and Development (HGD) as a knowledge domain. The HGD domain introduces a significant amount of new content to the curriculum, including several topics that have not traditionally appeared in the rehabilitation counselor educational curriculum. Thus, this domain presents both an educational challenge and an educational and professional opportunity. Our purposes in this article are to review the place of HGD in the CORE curriculum and in rehabilitation counseling practice; to describe the HGD knowledge domain and its educational outcomes; and to discuss educational perspectives on this knowledge domain in the preservice curriculum. We propose that the inclusion of the HGD domain provides an opportunity for improving professional practice and for exploring our current and future professional roles.

Purpose: To determine what disability-inclusive policies and practices employers have in place and examine the relationship between these practices and the actual recruitment and hiring of persons with disabilities.

Method: A survey 675 of human resources professionals who were members of the Society for Human Resource Management.

Results: After controlling for organizational characteristics, 9 of the 10 specific recruitment and hiring practices/policies examined in this study were found to significantly increase the likelihood of hiring individuals with disabilities.

Conclusions: The findings inform rehabilitation professionals who interface regularly with businesses regarding good practices for finding and hiring qualified candidates.

Purpose: This study assessed and demonstrated the efficacy of two select empirical forecast models (i.e., autoregressive integrated moving average [ARIMA] model vs. grey model [GM]) in accurately predicting state vocational rehabilitation agency (SVRA) rehabilitation success rate trends across six different racial and ethnic population cohorts (i.e., Blacks or African Americans, non-Latino Whites, American Indians or Alaskan Natives, Asians, Native Hawaiians or other Pacific Islanders, and Latinos). Methods: Eleven years of Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA)-911 case record data (fiscal year [FY] 2004 through 2014) on SVRA employment outcomes were extracted and entered into the ARIMA model and GM to test their predictive performance. Results: The GM was demonstrated to be superior to the ARIMA model in predictive accuracy performance. Remarkably, although the GM (1, 1) 3-year frequency curve projection simulation results (FY 2015–2017) showed a slight upward trajectory in the number of successfully rehabilitated Latinos compared to baseline FY 2014 actual numbers, more drastic downward trajectories were projected for Blacks or African Americans, non-Latino Whites, American Indians or Alaskan Natives, Asians, and Native Hawaiians or other Pacific Islanders. Conclusions: The GM represents a demonstrably capable and promising forecasting tool that could be useful to SVRA leaders, policy makers, advocates, and researchers in simulating predictions that inform future policy initiatives, influence strategic plan development, and help guide the state of the science on future research and development foci. Additional multiple comprehensive demonstration trials, nonetheless, are needed to either confirm or refute the GM’s veracity in national and state predictive accuracy and curve fitting performance.

Objectives: To examine the effect of rehabilitation technology interventions on the employment or job retention outcomes of individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS) served by the state-federal vocational rehabilitation program using a case-control study design.

Participants: Data for this study were extracted from the Rehabilitation Services Administration Case Service Report database. The sample included 8,715 individuals with MS aged between 16 and 64 years old whose cases were closed between the fiscal years of 2007 and 2011.

Outcome measure: Competitive employment.

Results: The classification and regression tree method identified 5 homogeneous subgroups ranging from high to low propensity to receive rehabilitation technology services. Specifically, individuals with MS employed at application were most likely to receive rehabilitation technology intervention. The effect of rehabilitation technology on job retention was especially strong for individuals aged 35 years or older with a college education.

Conclusion: These findings suggest that rehabilitation technology is an effective service for enhancing job retention outcomes of middle-aged and older adults with MS and provide valuable information for policymakers, health care providers, rehabilitation counselors, and educators.

This article presents an overview of multiple sclerosis (MS), one of the most common neurological disorders in the western hemisphere. Medical and psychosocial aspects of the disease such as causes and risk factors, diagnosis, incidence and prevalence, symptoms, courses, and treatment are described. Existing research regarding the employment outcomes and concerns of people with MS, especially the factors associated with labor force participation, is reviewed. Intervention strategies to enable individuals with MS to retain their employment are discussed such as early education on the nature of MS, advocacy-supported disclosure, and accommodation techniques for symptom management at the workplace. Important workplace accommodations include flexible work hours and work breaks, ergonomic changes in equipment to address upper and lower body limitations, and job simplification or other compensatory strategies to minimize the impact of cognitive problems on job performance.

Purpose: The study aimed to understand how use and satisfaction with services following discharge from an acquired brain injury (ABI) acute-care facility related to family caregiver outcomes.

Methods: A correlational and descriptive study design was used. Nineteen primary family caregivers of persons recently discharged from an ABI acute-care facility in a large city in the southwestern part of the United States participated.

Results: Satisfaction with the services provided during post–acute-care rehabilitation demonstrated medium effect size relationships to family caregiver depression, family dysfunction, and extent of rehabilitation needs met. Service use demonstrated a medium effect size relationship to caregiver family dysfunction.

Conclusion: Findings present a call for future research to examine the role of service use and service satisfaction during the continuum of care from acute-care to long-term community integration following ABI.

Purpose: In this article, we seek to determine whether psychiatric rehabilitation principles and practices have been more fully incorporated into the Council on Rehabilitation Education (CORE) standards, the extent to which they are covered in four rehabilitation counseling “foundations” textbooks, and how they are reflected in the contents of three key journals in rehabilitation counseling.

Methods: We conducted a detailed review of literature that has surveyed coordinators of graduate programs accredited by the CORE as well as research that investigates the preparedness of graduates of CORE-accredited rehabilitation counseling programs to deliver services to people with psychiatric disabilities.

Results: This review found that psychiatric rehabilitation is only touched upon in the CORE standards, is modestly alluded to in the most commonly used foundational textbooks, and has very few articles about it published annually in rehabilitation journals.

Conclusion: Recommendations on methods for increasing psychiatric rehabilitation content in CORE-accredited programs are provided. Specific suggestions are made for resources and activities that can be added to rehabilitation counseling curricula to include psychiatric rehabilitation.

Purpose: To conduct a content analysis of the rehabilitation counseling literature to identify articles published on aging.

Method: To determine the number of articles that were published on aging in rehabilitation counseling journals, a content analysis of articles from 2000 through 2012 was performed. For purposes of this review, only full-length, peer-reviewed articles (i.e., research studies, literature reviews, and program descriptions) with abstracts were included for analysis.

Results: The prevalence of articles addressing aging in the mainstream rehabilitation counseling literature is limited over a 13-year period. Since 2000, only 24 (l.3 %) articles in rehabilitation journals account for content on aging.

Conclusion: Several facts are clear regarding older individuals, including their increased life expectancy, extended stay in the workplace, and living with a disability. Given those realities, the field of rehabilitation counseling must be poised to respond with evidence-based research to address the needs and demands of the aging population with disabilities in the workplace, around quality of life issues, and within a sociopolitical context of globalization.

Purpose: The purpose of this article was to gather descriptive data on the professional use of social media in public rehabilitation settings and to analyze existing social media policies in those agencies through content analysis.

Methods: The authors sent a survey to all state administrators or directors of these agencies (N = 50) in the United States, requesting frequency and other descriptive information, plus a copy of their social media policies (if available). The available policies were reviewed using content analysis procedures.

Results: The results showed that although the frequency of social media use was high, training and inclusion of ethics was low. Regarding policy, approximately 42% reported a lack of an existing policy, and 38% were unsure about having a policy guide. The analysis of the available policies yielded 11 themes around which these policies were organized.

Discussion: The authors offer a discussion of these results and its implications for policy and practice as well as future research. These include the need for more comprehensive social media policy creation in agencies and the role of clinical supervisors in ensuring ethical practice.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to validate the Vocational Rehabilitation Engagement Scale (VRES) for use in the Clubhouse Model of Psychosocial Rehabilitation.

Method: There were 124 individuals with serious mental illness recruited from 8 Clubhouse programs in Hawaii. Measurement structure of the VRES was evaluated using exploratory factor analysis.

Results: Exploratory factor analysis of the Clubhouse version of the VRES yielded 2 reliable factors (cognitive-affective engagement and behavioral engagement). Both the cognitive-affective engagement and behavioral engagement factors were found to correlate with other self-determination theory constructs including autonomy support, relatedness, and outcome expectancy.

Conclusions: The Clubhouse version of the VRES is a brief, reliable, and valid instrument for assessing vocational rehabilitation (VR) engagement and contributes to the use of self-determination as a paradigm for improving recovery outcomes in psychiatric rehabilitation.

Early definitions of cultural diversity focused primarily on race/ethnicity, with subsequent inclusion of age, gender, sexual orientation, class, religion, geography, and a combination of positionalities. More recently, social justice has resurfaced as a component of cultural diversity to explain experiences of people of color, women, and marginalized groups. This article examines the movement to include cultural diversity and social justice in rehabilitation education, and offers a model for curriculum development in light of the new CORE standards.

Purpose: To compare pay gap estimates across 3 different national survey data sets for people with disabilities relative to those without disabilities when pay is measured as wage and salary alone versus a (total compensation) definition that includes an estimate of the value of benefits.

Method: Estimates of the cost to the employers of employee benefits at the occupational level from an employer survey data set are matched to individual-level data in each of the 3 data sets. Multiple regression techniques are applied to estimate wage and salary and total compensation gaps between full-time men with and without disabilities.

Results: For full-time working men with disabilities (relative to those without disabilities), there is a consistently larger percentage wage and salary gap than percentage total compensation gap and breadth of the definition of pay affects the size of any estimated pay gap. In addition, there are differences in the estimated pay gaps depending on data source and disability measure.

Conclusions: Results obtained from a single data set or definition of key variables may not be broadly generalizable. Studies containing such limitations should be interpreted cautiously. Our research further suggests employers looking to hire persons with disabilities or those offering employment placement services should put substantial weight on the non–base pay component of the total compensation package.

Purpose: To examine rural and urban differences in Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) case mix, delivery practices, and employment outcomes.

Methods: Rehabilitation Services Administration 911 (RSA-911) case data do not include location indicators that allow for rural analyses. We compiled RSA-911 data with county and ZIP code information from 47 VR agencies matched with additional sources to control for geographic and economic variations. Rural analyses included cross tabulations and logistic regression.

Results: Findings indicate that urban, large rural, small rural, and isolated rural outcomes and case mixes are significantly different based on education, age, minority status, receipt of Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income, and disability type (p ≤ .001).

Conclusion: Geographic indicators allow for differences to be explored and considered when making programmatic changes within the VR system.

In 2007, we offered an innovative blended graduate level rehabilitation counseling course. The course was delivered online and in Hong Kong. It included readings, PowerPoint presentations and discussion board features on Blackboard, as well as face-to-face lectures and guest speakers in a classroom context at the City University of Hong Kong. Additionally, students were required to visit various psychiatric rehabilitation and mental health programs throughout Hong Kong, and participation in the 2007 World Congress of the World Federation for Mental Health. Two faculty members and 13 students spenta total of 10 days in Hong Kong. The authors discuss the development and delivery of the course including course design, content, delivery methods and logistics. Implications are explored for teaching innovation in rehabilitation education.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to discover if an online course in psychiatric rehabilitation is as successful as a traditional on-campus course in terms of content delivery and learning outcomes.

Method: A traditional on-campus (n = 25) and an online (n = 17) course were compared at pretest and posttest on a measure entitled “Psychiatric Vocational Rehabilitation Knowledge and Skills Inventory.” A 4 (Skill) × 3 (Time) within-subjects analysis of variance with repeated measures was used to assess changes in the skills of process, potential, partnership, and career advancement over time.

Results: The results were that scores for both formats significantly increased from Time 1 to Time 2, but one format did not perform significantly better than another. The Psychiatric Vocational Rehabilitation Knowledge and Skills Inventory was found to be a reliable measure.

Conclusion: The study underscores the value of a dedicated psychiatric rehabilitation course in rehabilitation graduate education.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to validate the 10-item version of the HIV Stigma Scale (HSS-10) in a sample of African Americans with HIV/AIDS.

Method: One hundred and ten African Americans living with HIV/AIDS were recruited from 3 case management agencies in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Measurement structure of the HSS-10 was evaluated using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis.

Results: Factor analysis results support a 2-factor factorial structure for the HSS-10 (social stigma and self-stigma). The HSS-10 demonstrates good reliability and factorial validity, and it correlates moderately with related constructs in the expected directions.

Conclusion: HSS-10 is a brief, reliable, and valid instrument for assessing HIV stigma and can be used as a clinical rehabilitation and research tool to assess the contribution of stigma as a major cause of health disparities and outcomes in African Americans living with HIV/AIDS.

Purpose: To identify meaningful educative experiences that contributed to the development of rehabilitation counselors’ abilities to provide effective rehabilitation counseling services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) persons living with chronic illness/disabilities (CID).

Method: This was a secondary analysis of a larger qualitative data set that examined the educational experiences and practices of 12 certified rehabilitation counselors working with LGBTQ persons.

Results: Using a qualitative content analysis methodology, 5 categories were identified: (a) formal didactic education, (b) affirmative supervision and consultation during practica/internship, (c) extracurricular-related training, (d) identification, and (e) family of origin.

Conclusion: To help facilitate future counselors’ self-perceived abilities to provide effective services to LGBTQ persons living with CID, rehabilitation counselor educators should place more emphasis on LGBTQ-related issues in their curriculum and provide practical (experiential) learning opportunities for their students.

Purpose: To examine the mediational effect of core self-evaluations (CSE) on the relationship between functional disability and life satisfaction.

Methods: A quantitative descriptive design using multiple regression analysis. The participants were 97 college students with disabilities receiving services through Hunter College’s Minority-Disability Alliance (MIND Alliance) in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Results: CSE was a partial mediator between functional disability and life satisfaction. After controlling for CSE, functional disability was no longer a significant predictor of life satisfaction.

Conclusions: CSE partially mediated the impact of functional disability on life satisfaction. Future research should explore the development of interventions to increase CSE to reduce the effect of disability and to improve life satisfaction and employment outcomes for individuals with disabilities.

Objective: It is useful to examine workplace factors influencing employment outcomes of individuals with disabilities and the interplay of disability, employment-related, and employer characteristics to inform rehabilitation practice.

Design: A number of large national survey and administrative data sets provide information on employers and can inform this inquiry.

Results: Provides an overview of 9 national survey and administrative data sets that can be used to investigate the impact of employer practices on employment outcomes for individuals with disabilities.

Conclusions: Provides specific examples of disability and employment research, which can be performed with these data sets and implications for rehabilitation policy, practice, and research.

National campaigns promoting the use of the term intellectual disability (ID) have culminated in the recent U.S. congressional passing of Rosa's Law. Rosa's Law changes how ID is referred to in federal disability programs by removing all references to the term, “mental retardation” (U.S Government Printing Office, October, 2010). Little is known about how the change in language will affect rehabilitation counseling practice and education. Accordingly, this article addresses the following: (a) history of the descriptors of ID, (b) the stigmatizing effects of terminology, (c) eliminating the use of the r-word through Rosa's Law, and (d) implications for the rehabilitation counseling profession.

Objective: To examine the relations of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics’s (STEM) self-efficacy, outcome expectations, interests, and contextual supports and barriers to STEM educational goals in college students with disabilities from racial and ethnic minority backgrounds

Design: Quantitative descriptive research design using hierarchical regression analysis (HRA)

Participants: 115 underrepresented minority students with disabilities receiving services from the National Science Foundation (NSF) funded Minority-Disability (MIND) Alliance in STEM project at Hunter College, City University of New York and Southern University at Baton Rouge for the years 2008−2011.

Outcome Measures: The Social-Cognitive STEM measures

Results: The HRA results indicated that gender, advanced placement (AP) classes, father’s educational level, academic milestone self-efficacy, and STEM interest were significant predictors of goal persistence in African American and Hispanic college students with disabilities. The final model accounted for 57% of the variance in STEM persistence, which is considered a large effect size.

Conclusion: The research findings provide good support for the use of the social cognitive career theory (SCCT) framework to identify predictors of STEM persistence and to design academic retention services and career development interventions for college students who are underrepresented minorities with disabilities.

Current distance learning technological advances allow real and virtual classrooms to unite. In this program evaluation study, focus group, participatory action, and qualitative research strategies (Yin, 1994) were used to explore the quality and benefits of infusing elements of three distance learning modalities into the traditional rehabilitation counseling classroom. Participants were students with multiple experiences in hybrid classes in which in-person instruction was integrated with at least one distance learning modality. The distance learning alternatives involved were interactive television, web-conferencing using a live stream from interactive television, the learning management system (e. g., Blackboard) and/or the collaboration platform or enhancement to learning management system (e. g., Elluminate). Student feedback was generated on the quality and effectiveness of hybrid models, as well as on the benefits and advantages of these models for rehabilitation education in the rural area served. Results indicate that the modalities can be integrated while maintaining discernible quality and learning effectiveness. Most notably, hybrid models may have distinct advantages over the traditional classroom in isolated rural regions and students who for a variety of reasons find it difficult to meet in traditional classrooms. Students with specialized interests can be linked to each other and to needed resources.

Distance education is constantly evolving and improving. To stay current, effective online instructors must utilize the most innovative, evidence-based teaching methods available to promote student learning and satisfaction in their courses. One emerging teaching method, referred to as blended online learning (BOL), involves collaborative education across multiple university settings. In this article, we describe an inter-university educational collaboration designed to connect students from various academic institutions using the BOL teaching method. The article begins with an overview of the theoretical framework that informs the BOL method, followed by an overview of the method and its key components. Benefits of this collaborative learning effort to students, educators, universities, and the profession are also provided. The article culminates with implications for using the BOL method with rehabilitation educators, including collaborative teaching tips for working in educator and student teams.

Purpose: In this article, the authors discuss best strategies for recruitment and retention among faculty of color, international faculty, and women to diversify rehabilitation counselor education faculty.

Method: Based on a comprehensive literature review, we have provided the reader with a brief review of the status of faculty of color, international faculty, and women in academia, issues in recruitment and retention, and strategies that may be beneficial in diversifying rehabilitation counselor education faculty.

Results: Researchers in higher education have shown that a diverse faculty is not only beneficial to academia, but to communities as well. The authors have provided recruitment and retention strategies that have been used in other disciplines. Coupled with a sincere commitment by university administrators, faculty, students, and communities, these strategies may be beneficial in increasing diversity among the faculty ranks in rehabilitation counselor education programs.

Conclusion: In order to increase diversity in our training and education programs, it is imperative that recruitment and retention plans are created and implemented. Various recruitment and retention strategies were discussed in this article that have been shown to be effective in other disciplines. Future research should explore the presence and use of recruitment and retention plans in rehabilitation counselor education programs. In addition, qualitative research is warranted to explore the experiences of faculty of color, international faculty, and women.

Purpose: In the previous analysis of key informant perspectives on minority research leaders’ career development factors, we identified individual and sociocultural, institutional, and federal research agency (i.e., National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research; National Institutes of Health; Agency for Healthcare Quality and Research; Office of Disability, Aging, and Long-Term Care Policy) policy and systems-induced challenges. An analysis of their viewpoints about what policy and systems-induced facilitators can be considered as actionable for increasing the pool of seasoned minority researchers was not undertaken. Here in this companion study, data collected on 15 key informants’ perspectives regarding policy initiatives and strategies that can be considered by these agencies to diversify the behavioral, social science, clinical, and biomedical scientific workforce were analyzed. Methods: This companion analysis employed the same methods as reflected in the previous study. Results: Select federal research agency policy and systems-induced factors (i.e., research career pathways, social justice context, designated funding streams, and interprofessional multidisciplinary collaborations) emerged as important. Conclusions: The findings can inform the development of new or modified federal research agency sponsored field initiated strategies and internal policy and systems that could lead to an increased supply of seasoned minority investigators.

Purpose: Psychiatric rehabilitation is recognized as a field with specialized knowledge and skills required for practice. The certified psychiatric rehabilitation practitioner (CPRP) credential, an exam-based certification process, is based on a regularly updated job task analysis that, in its most recent iteration, identified the new core competency domain of “supporting health and wellness.” This article explains the relevance of this domain to the current practice of psychiatric rehabilitation.

Methods: We present a multidimensional foundation model of wellness that describes the job tasks highlighted in the newest CPRP competency domain and examines implications for rehabilitation educators and practitioners who do not hold the CPRP credential but still provide rehabilitation services to individuals with psychiatric disabilities.

Results: The health and wellness competencies identified for CPRPs may not translate directly into competencies needed by service providers in other roles; however, practices that involve experiencing personal goal setting and action plan implementation, especially around wellness goals, can be included across service domains.

Conclusion: Attending to the health and wellness of people with psychiatric disabilities is imperative. Rehabilitation practitioners who embrace the multidimensional foundation model of wellness can effectively provide services that are holistic and promote recovery and achievement of rehabilitation goals.

Researchers and policy makers have proposed that quality of life (QOL) is an important and useful way to measure the impact of services, although practical application of QOL in rehabilitation has been limited. In this study, a comprehensive framework (the International Classification of Functioning [ICF]) is used to compare the relationship between QOL and function in key life areas in a sample of adults with disabilities receiving vocational services (n = 224). Results of a multiple regression analysis indicated that level of education, duration of disability, difficulty with social relationships and inclusion, the impact of the disability or health condition on the person or his or her family, and relational support and attitudes of family, friends, and acquaintances showed significant relationships with QOL. This study highlights the role of the social impact of disability on QOL and provides support for the use of the ICF for conceptualizing disability and its impact in a way that is inclusive of personal and environmental factors.

The main objective of this study is to evaluate the measurement structure of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) as a positive psychology measure for people with spinal cord injuries (SCIs) using confirmatory factor analysis. The participants consisted of 274 Canadians with SCI living in the community. The result indicated that the 5-factor intercorrelated model fits the data reasonably well (χ² = 635.20; p value < .001; χ²/df = 2.40; CFI = .90; RMSEA = 0.07). These 5 factors (personal competence, high standards, and tenacity; trust in one’s instincts, tolerance of negative affect, and strengthening effects of stress; positive acceptance of change and secure relationships; control; and spiritual influence) correlated positively with disability acceptance and happiness, and inversely related to depression. The reliability of the 5 subscales was good ranging from .65 to .92. In conclusion, the results of this study confirmed that the 5-factor structure of the CD-RISC observed in the general population can be replicated in a sample of Canadians with SCI. This resilience scale can be used as a positive psychology measure in rehabilitation counseling research and practice.

Purpose: The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014 mandates vocational rehabilitation (VR) counselors play a greater role in providing transition-related services for students and youth with disabilities, such as pre-employment activities and increased collaborative efforts with state and local education agencies and American Jobs Centers to improve employment outcomes.

Method: We surveyed 538 VR counselors in 13 high performing State Vocational Rehabilitation Agencies to rate the importance of transition-related skills and their preparation to undertake these activities.

Results: Overall, VR counselors rated the importance of all transition-related items highly, but rated their preparation to perform these practices significantly lower. Job exploration counseling was cited as the most important skill. In terms of preparation, working with employers was rated the lowest. In terms of barriers to serving youth, time and case management were cited most frequently. Implications for caseload specialization and preparation of VR counselors are discussed.

Conclusion: The results of the study have implications for preparing VR counselors to comply with the WIOA mandates regarding transition services for students and youth with disabilities.

Purpose: To examine the extent to which rehabilitation counselor educators understand and are committed to infusing social justice in the rehabilitation counseling curricula.

Method: The authors used a quantitative descriptive research design to examine the level and extent of integrating social justice into rehabilitation counseling curricular. The participants were 59 rehabilitation counselor educators recruited during the eighth Annual Rehabilitation Educators Conference hosted by the National Council on Rehabilitation Education.

Results: The study found that most participants perceived it important to integrate social justice into rehabilitation counseling curricula. The level and extent of integration varied by academic rank and years of teaching.

Conclusion: To ensure future rehabilitation counselors gain social justice competency, it is of great significance that rehabilitation counseling educators infuse the concepts of social justice into the curricula through knowledge and fieldwork domains.

Purpose: We explore whether certain employer characteristics predict Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) charges and whether the same characteristics predict receipt of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act charges.

Method: We estimate a set of multivariate regressions using the ordinary least squares method.

Results: Most employer-level characteristics that predict the receipt of ADA charges also predict the receipt of other types of discrimination charges.

Conclusions: Our findings suggest that educational outreach efforts aimed at reducing the level of perceived disability discrimination in the workplace can be more efficient by targeting employer groups who are likely to receive charges under not only the ADA but also other statutes as well.

This study examined the types of social injustice experiences rehabilitation counselor educators reported, and the relationship between different levels of social injustice experiences and infusion strategies of social justice into the curricula. The participants in the study included 101 rehabilitation counselor educators recruited from the listserv of the National Council on Rehabilitation Education. A quantitative content analysis method was used. The findings showed that social injustice experiences reported by the participants tend to be multidimensional. Participants who reported a high level of exposure to social injustice experiences were more likely to infuse social justice into their curricula at a higher level than participants who reported a low level of exposure to social injustice experiences. The study revealed that gaining an understanding of social injustice in educators' personal and professional lives may foster their efforts to integrate social justice into the curricula, which in turn, may potentially enhance the social justice competency for trainees. Implications for research and practice were discussed.

To fulfill the goal of having counselors qualified through the Comprehensive System of Personnel Development (CSPD), the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services in New Jersey (DVRS-NJ) committed to have selected counselors attend a Master’s Degree in Rehabilitation Counseling (MRC) graduate program. This study examines 14 student/counselors who attended the MRC program while employed by DVRS-NJ and the 3,180 clients they served before, during, and after the attainment of their graduate degree. This research provides evidence that a graduate degree in rehabilitation counseling benefits not only the clients receiving services but also the efficacy and fiscal health of the entire rehabilitation services system. In addition, connection of the student to the profession of rehabilitation counseling during the pursuit of a graduate degree may suggest better outcomes. The evidence points to the value of continuing graduate degree programs, even during periods of fiscal restraint.

Background: The use of technology-mediated distance supervision is a rapidly growing area in rehabilitation counseling and other fields. Distance supervision has both tremendous potential and notable challenges to address, including questions of ethics and evidence.

Purpose: This article examines both the ethical and nonethical principles that rehabilitation counseling programs should consider when implementing distance supervision, such as evidence-based practice, competency, confidentiality, informed consent, and access to supervision.

Conclusions: Despite its growing popularity, little empirical evidence exists to support the use of distance supervision as an equivalent and empirically supported means of providing clinical supervision. Suggestions for programs on how to move distance supervision forward as an evidence-based and ethically sound component of rehabilitation counseling are included.

Positive psychology has received increasing attention in rehabilitation counseling research and practice. The rehabilitation counseling philosophy shares a similar emphasis of personal assets and strengths, which provides a solid foundation for the integration of positive psychology into the professional practice of rehabilitation counseling. In this article, the guest editors present their rationale for developing this special issue on positive psychology and rehabilitation research. They highlight some of the exciting findings reported in the articles included in this special issue on positive psychology and rehabilitation research. The goal of this special issue is to stimulate thinking and discussion about applying positive psychology theory, research, assessment, and interventions in rehabilitation counseling for promoting overall well-being, quality of life, and happiness for people with chronic illness and disabilities.

Purpose: Workplace accommodations are central to improving employment outcomes for people with and without disabilities; this study presents national estimates comparing accommodation requests and receipt as reported by individuals with and without disabilities.

Method: Estimates are developed from the May 2012 Current Population Survey Disability Supplement.

Results: The findings highlight variability in accommodation requests by disability type and status. Accommodation request rates are also presented by occupation and industry groups.

Conclusions: As employers voice concerns about the additional burden of employing individuals with disabilities under new regulatory requirements, our findings highlight that 95% of individuals requesting an accommodation were people without disabilities.

Diverse people living throughout the world have existed for many centuries. Perhaps, the United States may have one of the most diverse populations in recent memory. There are indications that human service organizations need to be more accessible when underrepresented groups either seek, or are in the pipeline of providers. To facilitate outcomes of all populations, we assert that the Multicultural Counseling Competencies (MCC) model that deals with awareness, knowledge, and skills should emphasize the application concept more. We operationalized cognitive, behavior and action, and application terms and applied these terms to the MCC in extensive examples. Additionally, we highlight that the use of the terms behavior and action are mistakenly conflated to mean application. Thus, decreasing application principles in the MCC. Future research and recommendations are highlighted.

Purpose: To conduct an initial needs assessment of physical and mental health behavior among college students to improve understanding of physical and mental health needs among future helping professionals.

Method: A sample of 24 undergraduate students was used to provide a description of mental health, physical activity, and healthy eating behaviors, along with interest in health promotion activities, during a 15-week course focused on promotion of physical and mental health.

Results: Findings indicate current reports of depression, anxiety, and somatic symptoms, along with interest in strategies to decrease stress, increase physical activity, and improve eating habits.

Conclusion: College curriculum must address physical and mental health needs to allow students to guard against future problems and adequately prepare for careers in helping professions.

This study is a comparative analysis of the impact of traditional face-to-face training contrasted with a blended learning approach, as it relates to improving skills, knowledge and attitudes for enhancing practices for achieving improved employment outcomes for individuals with disabilities. The study included two intervention groups: one participated exclusively in a half-day traditional face-to-face training program entitled Disability is Diversity; the other participated in both the traditional program and also accessed a series of additional online tutorials to reinforce knowledge translation. The pre-/post-analysis of participants indicated a statistically significant increase in knowledge and intentions of improving employment outcomes for people with disabilities across both groups. A six-month post-training follow-up provided important details about the continued impact of training on improving employment for individuals with disabilities. Specifically, participants who participated in the blended learning model were more likely to advocate the use of leading practices compared to those who attended only the traditional program. Thus, use of a blended learning model appears to increase capacity building of practicing professionals as they approach employment issues for people with disabilities as an issue of diversity, leading toward improved employment outcomes.

Purpose: The purpose of this inquiry was to examine the research skill building and career development lived experiences of a Native American who is blind serving as a disability and rehabilitation researcher at a National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR)-sponsored Rehabilitation Research and Training Center based at a historically Black college/university. Acknowledging that growing as a researcher is a lifelong process, this autoethnography presents challenges, lessons learned, and strategies for overcoming obstacles that may confront ethnic minorities with disabilities seeking to improve their research skills and develop research careers in the disability and rehabilitation field. Methods: Through the method of autoethnography, self-reflective stories and narratives were examined to expose marginalized position as an ethnic minority with a disability in terms of research skill enhancement and participation barriers. Results: Emerging themes and skill building factors included familial and postsecondary educational supports, assistive technology, professional and community engagement opportunities, and peer-to-peer mentorship. Skill building challenges were also presented. Conclusions: Autoethnographic style is appropriate for not only presenting the lived research skill building and career development experiences of a minority early career investigator but also exploring factors that could be important in helping ethnic minorities with disabilities desiring to become disability and rehabilitation researchers.

A review of vocational rehabilitation (VR) data from a Midwestern state was conducted to identify predictors of rehabilitation outcomes for African American consumers. The database included 37,404 African Americans who were referred or self-referred over a period of five years. Logistic regression analysis indicated that except for age and disability type, none of the other demographic variables were significant predictors of vocational rehabilitation for the individuals in the sample. However, as the amount of money spent on a case increased, the probability of gaining employment increased. Recommendations for VR practice with minority consumers are suggested.

Purpose: To evaluate the measurement structure of the Physical Activity Scale for Individuals With Physical Disabilities (PASIPD) as an assessment tool of lifestyle physical activities for people with severe mental illness.

Method: A quantitative descriptive research design using factor analysis was employed. A sample of 72 individuals with severe mental illness was used to examine the factorial structure of the PASIPD, which contains 12 items and 5 factors.

Results: Principal components analysis results indicate that the 5-factor structure of the PASIPD can be replicated with people with severe mental illness, which include light/moderate recreation and physical activity, housework, vigorous sport and recreation, lawn and garden work, and occupation.

Conclusions: The results underscore the importance of increasing lifestyle physical activity levels among this population, which requires increased attention in the development of measurement tools and interventions for these activities.

Purpose: To examine postsecondary faculty attitudes and actions toward inclusive teaching strategies (ITS) designed to benefit all learners.

Method: The Inclusive Teaching Strategies Inventory is a self-report survey that measures faculty attitudes toward ITS and traditional academic accommodations, as well as their in-class actions. The authors electronically sent the survey to faculty (N = 422) at 3 universities.

Results: Results concluded that experience with previous disability-related training (e.g., workshops, courses, books/articles, websites) was associated with more positive self-reported attitudes toward ITS and more actual use of ITS in courses. No significant differences in attitudes or actions between the 3 universities were found. Other findings revealed attitudes toward ITS were associated with actions incorporating ITS in courses.

Conclusion: Rehabilitation educators should review ITS guidelines, seek ITS training opportunities on their respective campuses, begin to incorporate ITS where appropriate for specific courses, and measure ITS effectiveness after implementation in courses. Additional research is recommended to examine ITS effectiveness in various postsecondary educational settings.

Newly adopted accreditation standards within rehabilitation counselor education require the assessment of knowledge, skills, and a set of characteristics known as professional dispositions (PDs). PDs may be regarded as individual characteristics like values, beliefs, attitudes, or interpersonal ways of being that influence professional behavior. Yet, this remains an abstract construct that eludes simple definition and measurement. The purpose of this article is to review existing literature related to PDs in order to assist rehabilitation counselor educators in understanding (a) the conceptualization and identification of PDs, (b) the assessment of PDs within a program evaluation process, and (c) contextual dynamics that may influence the assessment of PDs. To this end, the article explores existing PD definitions; common factors related to counseling outcomes; and the guiding philosophies, codes, and values for the field of rehabilitation counseling. Additionally, the role of PDs are discussed in relation to accreditation standards, the development of standardized instruments, student assessment, and program evaluation. Finally, the assessment of PDs are considered in relation to multicultural dynamics, students with disabilities, and distance education.

Objective: To discover senior and retired exemplary rehabilitation educators’ defining career moments and to provide doctoral students and early career rehabilitation educators with insights from widely recognized and successful rehabilitation educators in the field.

Method: Twenty-seven xemplary rehabilitation educators answered qualitative questions related to their career choices and accomplishments. Additionally, satisfaction with career and the perception of contributions to the field were quantitatively assessed using Likert-type questions.

Findings: Five themes emerged from the qualitative data which described exemplary educators’ defining career moments. Four additional themes emerged which revealed changes educators would make if they could start their careers over. Quantitative results indicated overall moderate to high satisfaction with career and contributions.

Conclusions: The experiences, advice,and wisdom of exemplary educators can provideearly guidance and insights about career decisions and life lessons for doctoral students and academics.

Alumni of a Council on Rehabilitation Education (CORE)–accredited graduate rehabilitation counselor education (RCE) program were surveyed to evaluate career outcomes, job satisfaction, licensure and certification rates, client populations served, and RCE program satisfaction and effectiveness. Results indicate a high level of satisfaction with the program and career outcomes and confirm the program’s effectiveness in meeting the education and career needs of its graduates. Information obtained provides valuable insight for other RCE programs that aspire to improve and grow to meet the needs of their students and the field.

Purpose: This study examined the impact of using a collaborative process with person-centered teams and a functional assessment of problems in the workplace to design individualized goals and self-management interventions to support young adults with disabilities. These young adults had achieved employment through a customized employment process but were beginning to face challenges maintaining and advancing in their job roles.

Method: A single subject, multiple baseline study was conducted with three individuals ages 22–29 years with autism and/or intellectual disability to determine the impact of the intervention on on-task behavior and job task completion.

Results: The results suggest that the process can lead to meaningful change in the on-task and job completion behavior of young adults with disabilities in inclusive employment settings, although there were limitations.

Conclusion: The findings, outcomes, and implications confirm and extend our understanding of the impact of person-centered teams, goal setting, functional assessment, and self-management after young adults with disabilities are employed in community-based settings.

Purpose: The article outlines select individual and institutional factors that could contribute to rehabilitation, disability, and health research productivity among minority-serving institutions (MSIs; i.e., historically Black colleges/universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, and American Indian tribal colleges/universities). Method: We conducted 1 focus group with 12 faculty members from MSIs to identify their perceptions on research productivity factors. Both purposive and convenience sampling techniques were used to recruit participants. Data were audio-recorded and transcribed. An open coding approach was used to generate themes and codes, and the analysis was completed using NVivo (Version 10). Results: Focus group discussion led to the identification of several factors that influence rehabilitation, disability, and health research productivity at MSIs. Such identified factors included, but were not limited to, heavy teaching and service loads, time management issues, lack of collaboration, limited mentors, insufficient financial resources, inadeqaute administrative and research culture, and insufficient state and donor funding. Focus group participants also suggested relevant topics and sources as informational materials for improving scientific productivity. Conclusion: The findings point to the need for MSIs to make greater financial and intellectual investments in their research infrastructure and culture. Moreover, federal research agencies should also consider making greater research capacity building and research and development funding investments at these institutions.

Purpose: To explore employment as a social determinant of health through examining the relationship between employment status and physical health.

Method: The authors explored the causal relationship between employment status and physical health through conducting a systematic review of 22 longitudinal studies conducted in Finland, France, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Sweden, United Kingdom, and the United States.

Results: Five common trajectories were identified as employment, unemployment, job loss, reemployment, and retired. Unemployment and job loss were associated with poorer physical health. Employment and reemployment were associated with better physical health.

Conclusion: To enhance employment outcomes, it is important for service providers to acknowledge the interaction between the client’s physical health and employment status, and assess client physical functioning. Additional research is necessary to further elucidate this interaction.

Purpose: Identify barriers to career development and employment from both the survivor and parent perspective.

Method: Young adult survivors (N = 43) and their parents participated in focus groups to elicit information regarding perceptions regarding career development and employment.

Results: Perceptions of both the young adults and parents indicate that there is a significant need for comprehensive career and employment services targeted for young adult central nervous system cancer survivors.

Conclusions: Findings provide initial evidence and support for the need to incorporate career and vocational services into psychosocial treatment programs. More research is needed in this area to gain an understanding of the specific career and vocational needs and to further explore how the interaction between the young adults and their parents impact vocational outcomes.

The Working Alliance, consisting of building bonds, establishing goals, and developing tasks, has been deemed the cornerstone of helping professions, and has been found to significantly and reliably predict client outcomes. The importance of client characteristics and perceptions of working alliance has been established in the literature. Less is known about service provider qualities that impact the working alliance. This study utilized 104 rehabilitation service providers to assess the impact of education, work experience, and disability category on working alliance efficacy. Results indicate that rehabilitation service providers with more education had significantly higher working alliance efficacy pertaining to clients with physical disability. This suggests that master level rehabilitation service providers have greater confidence to build bonds, identify goals, and structure tasks when working with clients with physical disabilities. No differences were found between education groups on working alliance efficacy for psychiatric disability. Work experience was found to relate to working alliance efficacy for physical disability, not psychiatric disability. The results of this study provide initial support for the notion that rehabilitation service providers with more education and more work experience demonstrate a more effective working alliance in their efforts with clients who have physical disabilities. The non significant differences in psychiatric disability working alliance scores among service providers with varying education levels and work experience may be indicative of provider stigma or burnout when working with this population.

Rehabilitation research provides the foundation for effective services to persons with disabilities. As a required course by the Council on Rehabilitation Education (CORE) accreditation standards, the research course in the rehabilitation counseling curriculum remains a difficult one for students, as direct application to practice is not readily apparent. This article provides a review of the CORE standards and recommended curriculum design for the research and program evaluation course. The application of evidence-based practice and program evaluation in rehabilitation counseling is discussed.