To engage in the community and the workplace requires physical, mental, and social health and wellbeing. Health promotion is a crucial rehabilitation counselling function for the health and wellbeing of people living with chronic illness and disability (CID). This exploratory review seeks to examine theories and models of motivation applicable to health promotion interventions in rehabilitation counselling practice. Although no single theory can address all the potential variables affecting people with CID's health behaviours, Bandura's (1977) concept of self-efficacy and outcome expectancy appear to be the most common factors in the health promotion models we surveyed. Among theories of motivation, only self-determination theory specifically includes a motivation variable, autonomy (internal and external motivation). We developed a diagram to depict a model, including all the theories and models covered in this exploratory review and identify commonalities among their constructs. This diagram can be used by rehabilitation counsellors to apply theories and models of motivation in case conceptualisation, formulating clinical hypotheses, developing treatment plans, and selecting and implementing evidence-based health promotion interventions for their clients.

This paper discusses issues arising from a study of referral from acute care following traumatic brain injury (TBI) in Queensland, in which aged care facilities were relied upon for the discharge of those with slow recovery after severe TBI. The discussion considers: (1) recovery following severe TBI; (2) the current policy context; (3) approaches to care beyond acute care; and (4) implications for policy and practice. In the current health care environment, with increasing pressure on scarce resources, it is critical that practitioners advocate for the dignity and care of people who sustain severe TBI and who are slow to recover.

This study describes a project that aimed to train people with mental illness in introductory research skills to support the development of a Clubhouse. Eight mental health consumers from the Illawarra region in New South Wales, Australia were recruited to participate in the project. The group met weekly over a 10-week period to participate in training sessions. The training program focused on increasing familiarity and confidence with research related activities considered useful for Clubhouse members. Measures related to Familiarity with the Clubhouse model, Clubhouse Role Confidence, Research Self Efficacy, and Familiarity with Research Terminology were completed by six of eight participants before and after training. There were significant improvements in consumer's familiarity with components of the Clubhouse and research terminology. There was also increased confidence in performing roles relevant to research activities in Clubhouse settings but no significant improvements in Research Self efficacy related to more general research skills. There is a need for future research to confirm the findings in larger trials with a control condition.

There is now wide agreement that people with severe mental illness can be adequately treated and cared for in the community, provided back-up hospital care is available when needed. Another important development has been the recognition that clinical treatment and care is insufficient for recovery and restoration of role functioning following illness onset, and must be supplemented by evidence-based practices in psychiatric rehabilitation. This article describes how allied health professionals can lead recovery oriented approaches that incorporate evidence-based forms of psychiatric rehabilitation. Family psychoeducation and supported employment are provided as examples of such evidence-based practices that require wider implementation.

Australia is preparing for a population increase in persons aged over 65 years, which will likely result in increased mental health needs for this group. Sub-clinical levels of depression, anxiety and loneliness are common in older adults. Older adults are also more likely than any other age group to live alone. Research has suggested that older adults living on their own often report companion animals as providing important social support. Thirty-two community-dwelling older adults, between 60 and 75+ years of age, took part in this study examining attachment to pets in an older cohort. Previous or current pet ownership was a requirement for inclusion in the study in order to account for possible bias of nonpet owners on reporting pets as a positive influence on wellbeing. Results found support for the psychometric properties of a relatively new attachment scale designed for older adults. Results also indicated limited support for a relationship between pet attachment and quality of life in the study group. Implications for clinical work with older adults and areas for future research are discussed.

It has been proposed that perceived control plays an important role in influencing health-related behaviour. This study examined the relationship between locus of control and the return-to-work achievements of a group of back-injured workers' compensation claimants. The obtained results supported the hypothesised relationships between both ‘internal’ and ‘powerful others’ locus of control, and the return-to-work criterion variables. It was concluded that use of rehabilitation-specific measures of locus of control (such as were employed in the present study) could guide the program planning efforts of rehabilitation personnel dealing with this client group.

Societal changes of the twenty-first century have implications for the future of rehabilitation counselling in the United States and in Australia. An emerging knowledge society, new populations with diverse needs, third wave messages from the disability community, and culture wars of politics influence the direction of rehabilitation counselling. The demographics of disability and the professional status of rehabilitation counsellors in the United States are reviewed. The adaptability and durability of rehabilitation counselling skills and knowledge is discussed.

Recent rehabilitation counselling literature has pointed to major developments in the contribution of rehabilitation counsellors to acquired brain injury (ABI) rehabilitation. Rehabilitation counsellors have widened their skill base in case management, vocational evaluation, and in the therapeutic relationship between counsellor and client. It is evident, however, that better methods of ABI rehabilitation service delivery, including those services provided by rehabilitation counsellors, continue to be sought. Strategies needed to ensure the advancement of rehabilitation counselling practice and research in ABI rehabilitation are discussed, and involve the adoption of a systems approach, a shift away from dominant clinical psychological analyses in favour of psychosocial frameworks, and the co-participation of persons with ABI in the rehabilitation process.

The present study describes coping strategies in a sample of 37 relatives of patients with severe brain injury and analyses associations between coping strategies and symptoms of anxiety depression and health-related quality of life one year after injury. The participants used the strategies active coping and use of emotional support most frequently. Less used strategies were humour, substance use, behavioural disengagement and self-blame. The results suggest that use of the strategies positive reframing and acceptance was associated with less anxiety, depression and better health-related quality of life one year after injury, whereas the use of the coping strategy denial was associated with a poorer outcome in the relatives.

This paper explores the complexities of the role of the workers' compensation case manager working for claims agents in South Australia. It provides a brief outline of the many skills required by case managers as they deal with the worker's injury, issues of compliance, the legislation, the social and psychological aspects of the worker's claim and the treatment and management of the worker's welfare. It describes the tensions brought about by the dual nature of the case manager's role that encompasses claims processing and injury management, and the conflicts between human and organisational motivations. These findings, although imprecise, demonstrate that in order to achieve sustainable return to work outcomes, case managers need to be competent, well-trained and team players capable of acting as mediators or brokers across the stakeholders. The aim of this paper is to explore the different views of the problems and possibilities of the role of the claims/injury manager from the perspective of the major stakeholders. Some views on the redesign of the role incorporating a partnership and holistic emphasis rather than the claims processing focus are suggested.

Organisational restructuring is a pervasive strategy employed by organisations in Australia in response to changes in market competition and/or policy directives. Such restructuring often involves staff redundancies and increased demands on the remaining employees. This paper identifies important issues for workplace rehabilitation programs in response to this phenomenon of organisational restructuring. The paper notes the impact of organisational restructuring on clients in workplace rehabilitation programs and the types of issues rehabilitation professionals are likely to face at this time. A particular focus is the aspect of managerial behaviour during the process of change and the paper reports from a range of studies on employee well-being, managerial bullying and coercion in the context of organisational restructuring. Considerations for the rehabilitation professional include the need to understand communication issues, identify those at risk, and maintain the natural supports during the change program. Suggestions are given for convenors of workplace rehabilitation programs to actively collaborate with the human resource function of the organisation and disability management is outlined as a useful example of such strategies.

Acareer development approach to disability and vocational rehabilitation indicates the need to empower clients' capacity to enter the workforce through ‘career enhancement’. This paper outlines a forum for university students with a disability that was informed by the notion of career enhancement and was conducted with the purpose of linking students with one another, and with employers, employment agencies, state and Australian government agencies, and key staff of the university's careers service. Feedback from students indicated the value of the event in terms of outcome and process.

The primary aim of this brief exploratory study is to examine differences in developmental work personality in a sample of young adult CNS cancer survivors and a group of young adult college students without disabilities. Participants were 43 young adults with central nervous systems cancer (females = 58.1%, Mean age = 21.64, SD = 3.64) and a comparison sample of 45 typically developing others who were college students (females = 77.3%, mean age = 20.91, SD = 1.04). They completed the Developmental Work Personality Scale (DWPS). Group differences in developmental work personality were examined using multivariate analysis of variance procedures. Results indicated that overall developmental work personality, and subscale scores of work tasks, and social skills were significantly lower among CNS cancer survivors compared to typically developing other young adults. Findings suggest influences of developmental atypicality in work personality with CNS cancer survivorship.

People diagnosed with psychotic illness continue to be underrepresented in the workforce despite the widespread provision of vocational rehabilitation services for people experiencing mental illness. A systematic literature review was undertaken using the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines to identify psychological predictors of successful return to work for this population. The databases searched were PsycARTICLES, PsycINFO, PubMed, ProQuest, Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health (CINAHL), and Taylor & Francis Online. A total of 4,076 articles were located and of these, 29 articles were analysed as part of this review. The data extracted was synthesised using a narrative approach. A number of psychological factors were identified which are predictive of successful return to work. These factors include but are not limited to identity, self-management of illness, social cognition, hope and self-esteem and motivation. On the basis of the reviewed literature, practice guidelines are proposed which support the psychological processes identified as pivotal to vocational success for people diagnosed with psychotic illness.

This paper will analyse the provision of rehabilitation to injured workers with a registered WorkCover claim in South Australia. It presents the comments of key parties on the practice of rehabilitation, approaches to service delivery, and contradictions and paradoxes of the reality of the practice. The comments of workers, employers, case managers, medical practitioners, and of the rehabilitation providers themselves give ample evidence of the complexity of the demands placed upon providers in this system. Emphasis is placed upon their role in presenting the realities of the situation honestly to the worker and in effectively communicating to other stakeholders the particular strategies needed to overcome barriers to successful return-to-work outcomes.

This article provides a scoping review with a focus on the substantive and methodological issues of the research pertaining to couple and family therapy (CFT) with five physical medical rehabilitation populations. We searched for literature concerned with five populations: spinal cord injury, stroke, multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain injury and amputations. A detailed review of CINAHL, PubMed, and PsycINFO databases identified 14 publications that researched couple/family therapy interventions with these populations. We synthesised the data by outlining and charting the substantive and methodological issues with this research. Findings suggest that individuals who have sustained an injury or are diagnosed with an illness requiring extensive rehabilitation experience increased relationship distress and decreased family functioning. While the literature clearly points to the impact on spouses and families, CFT was primarily used to engage families in efforts to assist health care workers improve physical functioning.

Acquired brain injury (ABI) causes numerous problems, including cognitive and personality changes, which can be quite stressful for caregivers. In this study, we aimed to adapt an instrument to measure caregivers’ distress, the Relative Version of the Head Injury Behaviour Scale (HIBS; Godfrey et al., 2003) to the Spanish language and to determine whether the positive aspects of caregiving moderate the effects of the psychological problems of ABI on caregivers’ distress. Moderation analyses indicated that positive aspects of caregiving involving one's outlook on life reduced the association between psychological problems and caregivers’ distress. The findings suggest that although the caregiver role is a source of distress, this role can also become a source of satisfaction, actually contributing to reducing caregivers’ distress. The importance of promoting the positive aspects of caregiving in rehabilitation programmes is discussed.

Objective: To evaluate the measurement structure of the Taiwanese Version of the Job Satisfaction of Persons with Disabilities Scale (JSPDS). Design: A quantitative descriptive research design using exploratory factor analysis (EFA). Participants: One hundred and thirty-two gainfully employed individuals from Taiwan with poliomyelitis participated in this study. Results: EFA result indicated a three-factor structure accounting for 54.1 per cent of the total variance. The internal consistency reliability coefficients for the integrated work environment, job quality, and alienation factors were 0.91, 0.77, and 0.59, respectively. Only the integrated work environment and job quality factors showed positive correlations with life satisfaction. People with higher educational attainment also reported higher levels of job satisfaction than people with lower educational attainment. Conclusion: The three-factor measurement structure of the JSPDS appears to be parsimonious, psychologically meaningful, and interpretable, and can be used to improve the comprehensiveness of vocational rehabilitation outcome evaluation.

This study explored the influence of personality traits on injured workers' interaction with workers' compensation systems. Data were collected from 89 participant claimants (males, 41; females 48, mean age = 45 years, SD = 10.67 years) at various levels of involvement with the workers' compensation system: previous claimants (n = 39), current claimants (n = 28), and nonclaimant workers (n = 22). Significant differences in personality traits were found between these groups of compensation claimants. Current compensation claimants displayed greater emotional instability and introversion compared with those less acutely involved in the compensation system. Current claimants also experienced clinically significant levels of symptoms of depression, anxiety, somatic complaints, and reported reduced social functioning, relative to previous and nonclaimants, respectively. Overall, subtle differences were found to exist in personality and psychological health between groups of workers at different levels of involvement with the workers' compensation system.

We investigated attitudes toward 10 specific groups of individuals with disabilities among students in college settings. These groups comprised major depression, substance use disorder (SUD), anxiety disorder, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), cerebral palsy, hearing impairment, learning disability, visual impairment, spinal cord injury, and cancer survivor. The multidimensional scaling (MDS) analysis revealed a two-dimension space representing participants’ attitudes toward those disabilities. The MDS biplot further indicated higher levels of perceived dangerousness from the groups with SUD, major depression, anxiety disorder, and ASD. The hierarchical cluster analysis revealed that cluster A (SUD and major depression) was rated as having the highest level of social distance (i.e., negative attitudes). The implications for research and practice in rehabilitation counseling were discussed.