Introduction
Method
Search Strategy
Study Selection
Quality Assessment, Data Selection and Data Analysis
Quality indicators for included studies based on Buckley et al. [36] | |
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Research question | Is the research question(s) or hypothesis cleary stated? |
Study subjects | Is the subject group appropriate for the study being carried out? |
‘Data’ collection methods | Are the methods used reliable and valid for the research question and context? |
Completeness of ‘data’ | Have subjects dropped out? Is the attrition rate les than 50 %? |
Control for confounding | Have multiple factors/variables been removed or accounted for where possible? |
Analysis of the results | Are the statistical or other methods of result analysis used appropriate? |
Conclusions | Is it clear that the data justify the conclusions drawn? |
Reproducibility | Could the study be repeated by other researchers? |
Prospective | Does the study look forwards in the time rather than backwards? |
Ethical issues | Were all relevant ethical issues addressed? |
Triangulation | Were results supported by data from more than one source? |
Country and author | Primary focus of study | Study population and sample size | Type of work settings | Outcome measures | Results | Research design |
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Employers’ decisions and opinions (N = 5)
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Canada Blessing [41] | Employers attitudes and selection decisions in hiring people with ID | 20 employers with experience with people with ID and 18 employers without such experience N = 38 | Manufacturing and technical services, food services; laundry and dry cleaning; retail and other services and clerical work | Assessment of employers attitudes towards employees with ID, identifying employer perceptions of barriers, incentives and knowledge in what way past experience influences the selection process | Injury was most cited as barrier to employment of this population. Incentive worksite factors were social altruism, personal satisfaction and growth, assistance in repetitive tasks, additional support systems and individualized expectations | Questionnaire and interviews with employers |
USA Morgan and Alexander [40] | Employers with/without experience in hiring employees with ID | Employers N = 534 | Service; manufacturing; retail; technical; building; medical; financial; professional; education; transportation; farming; government and other | Nature of business, hiring experience of workers with ID, advantages and concerns about employing individuals with ID and future hiring intent | Less than one-third of respondents reported experience in hiring persons with disabilities. Most employers with experience would hire again in the future. Loss of productivity and unsafety were relevant barriers for employing persons with ID | Questionnaire filled in by employers |
New Zealand Reid [42] | Multiple perspectives in realizing greater employment rates (workers with ID N = 17; employers N = 3; Support people N = 7; experts N = 2) | Financial independent employees with ID N = 29 | Community social/personal service sector (N = 10); construction sector (N = 2); manufacturing sector (N = 2), transport sector (N = 2), wholesale. Retail and hotel/restaurant sector (N = 1) | Support of workers, getting the job, learning on the job and maintaining the job | Support of another person and formal social support at the work place was important to get and maintain a job. Workers with ID were highly motivated and identified other and more work than they would like to do | Interviews with employers |
Hong Kong Tse [38] | Employers’ decision making processes | Employers hiring employees with ID N = 66 | Manufacturing industries (N = 42); service industries (N = 13); commercial sector (N = 7); retail (N = 2); public sector (N = 2) | Twenty-two items as composed who examined employers’ attitudes towards persons with disabilities | Most important factors affecting employers’ decisions were: emotional problems and personalities of workers, workers’ ability to perform a job, availability of low-level jobs, productivity of workers and availability of supportive services | Telephone interviews and a questionnaire for employers |
Canada Wilgosh et al. [39] | Experiences of employers with workers with ID | Employers who hire employees with ID in entry level positions N = 41 | Food service, janitorial/housekeeping, retail and labor/assembly | Thirteen skills were identified based on a questionnaire and how they influenced the decision process of employers to hire employees with ID | Most important skills for employers were attendance, production and work attitude. Additional prevocational preparation and training for job readiness and on the job training were important for decisions concerning placement and keeping the job | Interviews with employers |
Job content, requirement and performance (N = 8)
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USA Browder and Minarovic [45] | Training package of sight words to initiate job tasks | Employees with moderate or mild ID N = 3 | Grocery store, cafeteria, clothing factory | 1. Correct number of sight words read; 2. Know what to do after sight word reading; 3. Initiations undertaken by employees for performing tasks; 4. Satisfaction of employer | Training was effective for all participants to initiate tasks in their work setting. The used method supported them in self-management on the job and employers’ ratings of the job performance was positive | Experimental design with observations |
USA Devlin [43] | Impact of self determined career development model on job performance | Employees with moderate ID N = 4 | Cleaning duties | Self-determined career development model (SDCDM) about self-selected goals and how they were reached | The SDCDM represented an effective method to teach problem solving and suggests a positive relationship between the use of the model and changes in job performance | Experimental design with observations |
Japan Ishii and Yaeda [46] | Performed tasks by employees with ID and differences between companies | Employers N = 150 | Task descriptions were made of most frequently performed tasks | 1. Tasks performed by employees; 2. Job development activities used as predictive activities to clarify the prevalence of these activities; 3. Job development activities | Clerical, custodial and manufacturing work was most frequently performed. Companies employing individuals with ID provided significantly more job development activities than those not hiring such individuals. Job coach needed to offer employers professional consultations helping to develop jobs | Questionnaire filled out by employers |
Spain Flores [48] | Quality of working life | Employees with ID in supported employment N = 65 | 29 % concierge in an office and 12.9 % attendance in a shop, other work settings not mentioned | Job demands (job, task and psychological and physical) and resources (organizational, interpersonal, social supports from co-workers and supervisor and quality life) | Reduced job demands, elevated support from supervisor and co-workers explained quality of working life | Cross-sectional survey with interviews with employees |
Hong Kong Li [49] | Self-perceived opportunities for getting a job | Employees with mild disability (IQ 50–70) N = 18 | Cleaning work (N = 9), security guard (N = 1), factory worker (N = 2), messenger (N = 3), store assistant (N = 1), sheltered workshop (N = 1), unemployed (N = 1) | Self perceived employment opportunities for people with ID with average or above average work abilities | Employees were worried about work prospects and confronted with misconceptions. Suggestions were made for promoting work by professional assistance, disability education for employers, training to improve work performance and self-advocacy of people with ID | Interviews with employees |
USA Melchiori and Church [44] | Self reported vocational needs and satisfaction of supported employees and co-workers | Supported employees with ID and their co-workers N = 45 | Manufacturing or product assembly (N = 15); janitorial services (N = 9); recycling (N = 6); food service (N = 5); retail customer service (N = 4); office work (N = 4); research support (N = 1); child care (N = 1) | Instruments based on the theory of work adjustment in which person-environment correspondence predicts worker adjustment from interaction between workers’ personalities and work environment to identify vocational needs and satisfaction of workers with ID and their co-workers | Supported employees were more satisfied than co-workers with the variety of their work tasks, supervision, compensation, working conditions, recognition and ability utilization. Theory of Work Adjustment could be used in clarifying the vocational needs and facilitate active participation in vocational decision making | Questionnaire filled in by supervisors |
USA Pierce et al. [47] | Predictors of job tenure | Employees with ID N = 317 | Top five employment: 1. Food service; 2. Grocery; 3. Disability board; 4. Retail; 5. Motel | Employment status 1998, 3 year employment status, movement to a competitive job | Matching interest and abilities reduced problems in job retention. Increase in wages and hours was a relevant factor for remaining in a job for more than a year | Prospective cohort study over 3 year period using local county providers database |
USA Rusch et al. [60] | Relation IQ, ethnicity, gender, placement approach and current/future earnings | Employees with ID (mean IQ 59.2) placed in supported employment N = 197 | No information about job types only about monthly earnings | Intelligence, etnicity, job placement, job type, means of transportation, monthly earnings in relation to level of ID and job subsidy | Earnings were greatly influenced by keeping one’s job. Individual placed persons earn more than workers in enclaves. IQ and job subsidy were significant predictors for earnings | Prospective cohort study over 4 year period with random sample of state database |
Interaction and workplace culture (N = 8)
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USA Butterworth et al. [50] | Workplace culture | Young employees with ID working in individual community based jobs N = 8 | Retirement home; rural and urban fast food restaurant, recycling center; funeral home; hair salon; convenience store; family style restaurant | 1. Job Scale of the vocational inventory measuring how the environment responds to the needs of employees; 2. Consumer Scale of the vocational inventory measuring how the employee interacts with others | Four work setting characteristics were associated with a strong workplace culture: (1) multiple context relationships, (2) specific social opportunities, (3) personnel (4) teambuilding management style and job designs | Participant observation interviews with employees |
USA Carrier [51] | Social integration | Employees with moderate, mild and severe ID N = 10 | Rural-agricultural (N = 1), suburban- commercial (N = 2), urban commercial (N = 4), urban-industrial (N = 3) | Theory of co adaptation used for the workplace as a whole in which the expectations of the person with ID and motivations of employer are important | Three iterative transformation orders in a co-adaptation process were important to achieve optimal social integration; tasks adjustment, situational assessment, job creation and supervision | Participant observation and interviews with all stakeholders; questionnaire for job coaches |
USA Chadsey Rusch et al. [60] | Interaction outcomes seen by different stakeholders | Employees with ID (N = 47), job coaches (N = 30), employers (N = 49) N = 126 | 50 % of employees worked in integrated work settings in offices or restaurants. The other work settings were not described | Social participation, workplace acceptance, personal acceptance, feelings of social support outcome, individual interventions and coworker/employer interventions | Time, money and staff were relevant factors for social integration by all the stakeholders. Workers with ID and job coaches believed that the barrier for social integration was problems in learning new skills as opposed to employers | Cross sectional survey with questionnaire for job coaches and employers and interviews for employees |
USA Hall and Kramer [52] | Types of social networks and workplace structures in sheltered and community settings | Employees without explanation of level of ID in community employment N = 9 | Pharmacy (N = 1); wholesale club (N = 1); discount department (N = 1), store (N = 1); camera store (N = 1); video store (N = 1); private school (N = 1); home goods store (N = 1), YMCA (N = 1) | Social capital defined as relationships and the benefits derived from these relationships in combination with external variables (organizational characteristics, living situation, family involvement, personality characteristics, perceived level of disability) | Commitment and leaderships is distinctive in creating social capital in workplaces with support of coworkers and supervisors. Contact with families was important and social capital produced bridges with people, places and ideas that otherwise would not be accessible | Interviews with employees |
USA Irvine and Lupart [5] | Inclusion in the workplace | Employers N = 10 | Work settings ranged from community businesses to charity organizations | Logistics, supports and accommodations, employee characteristics, perspectives of employee inclusion and advantages of the workplace | Benefits for the workplace by working with persons with ID were moral in the work environment, new role models and increased efficiency. Collaboration with supervisors, support staff and guardians was essential for workplace inclusion even as flexibility of the workplace | Interviews with employers |
Australia Knox and Parmenter [54] | Social networks and support of these networks | Employees with mild ID N = 9 | Bakery, trolley collector (N = 2) kitchen, factory (N = 2), ward assistant (N = 1), cleaner (N = 1), mail courier (N = 1), canteen assistant (N = 1) | Support defined in the categories: companionship; emotional and instrumental | Multiple support mechanisms were relevant for the workplace such as employers, co-workers and job coaches with special attention for the family | Participant observation over an 18-month period |
USA Rusch et al. [53] | Co- workers interactions between employees with and without disabilities | Pairs of employees with and without ID in same jobs with mean IQ ranged from 52 to 59 in clustered or individual employment N = 85 | Food service (N = 39), light industry (N = 16), service occupations (N = 18), other (N = 12) | 1. Physical integration; 2. Social integration; 3. Training; 4/5 Associating (in frequency and appropriateness); 6. Befriending; 7. Advocating; 8. Evaluating; 9. Given information and 10. Individual and clustered placement | Employees with and without disabilities were interactive with their co-workers at similar levels in eight of the nine areas of interaction. The differences could be found in the different types of jobs. Significantly more off-the-job interaction occurs among workers without disabilities | Experimental design with matched pairs with use of a questionnaire |
USA Rusch et al. [31] | Integration related issues emerging from co-worker interactions | Pairs of workers with severe ID in clustered or individual employment N = 23 | Food industry (55 %); light industry (27 %); other placements (18 %) | See above mentioned elements with three different placement approaches | Employees without disabilities received more training and information from their co-workers without disabilities and nondisabled workers interact more as friends outside the workplace than supported employees | Experimental design with matched pairs |
Job coaches (N = 5)
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USA Gray et al. [55] | The effect of the number of job coaches on employment rates | Employees with ID with IQ (20–74) in competitive or enclave work settings N = 431 | No information about work settings, only differences between type of urbanization | 1. Job coaches per 100 individuals; 2. Percent urbanization; 3. Per capital unemployment rate; 4. Specific characteristics of employees with ID | Job coaches were successful in obtaining employment for individuals with IQ less than 40 and their effect on individual employment was positive and significant in highly urban counties | File analysis on data of 1996/1997 of the department of disabilities and special needs |
USA Lemaire [70] | Employer reported barriers by job coaches to continued employment | Employees with mild to moderate ID who were eligible to receive services of developmental disabilities administration. N = 149 | Laborer (36 %) food service (20 %), stocking, delivery (17 %) clerical worker (14 %), grocery store (6 %), service representative (4 %), parking assistant (3 %), other | Barriers reported by job coaches and reasons for employment termination | 123 barriers were indentified for 49 employees and divided in behavior problems reading difficulties, legal history, transportation problems problems with supervisor and other | File analysis on records of supported employment services |
USA Moore et al. [64] | Relation of gender, race, secondary psychiatric disability, type of training and transportation to work | Employees with mild or moderate ID N = 253 | Nothing mentioned about the type of work setting only services delivered | Work status, level of income, transportation, vocational services, on –the-job training, maintenance, adjustment training | Job placement as a service was positively associated with achieving competitive jobs though not with the level of consumer income | File analysis on national database |
USA Moore et al. [56] | Participants who were more likely to get competitive jobs and the role of support services | Employees with mild (60 %), moderate (34 %) and severe (6 %)mental retardation N = 28.565 | No specific information | Level of IQ and vocational rehabilitation services (businesses and vocational training, counseling and job placement) | Consumers with a mild mental retardation who received job placement services achieved competitive jobs at a significantly higher proportion than persons with moderate or severe ID | File analysis on data provided by the rehabilitation services administration |
USA Ward et al. [58] | Satisfaction of employers about the job coaches | Employers and job coaches with employees with ID N = 40 | Fast food (N = 9), grocery (N = 6), retail (N = 3), bakery (N = 1), library (N = 2), restaurant (N = 1), animals (N = 2), laundry (N = 1), warehouse (N = 1), custodial (N = 5), child care (N = 2), newspaper (N = 1), housekeeping (N = 1), designer (N = 1), other (N = 4) | Job coach characteristics and characteristics of supported employees (age, gender, education, experience, training, caseload, primary disability and time at current job) | Evaluation of the supported employee, additional training, supervision, personal relations and responsiveness of the job coach to employers’ needs were important for job retention | Questionnaire for employers and job-coaches |