Handbook of Vocational Rehabilitation and Disability Evaluation

Reuben Escorpizo is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Rehabilitation and Movement Science at the University of Vermont in Burlington VT USA. Prior to moving to Burlington, he was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, LA USA. He is also a senior research scientist at the Swiss Paraplegic Research and the ICF Research Branch in collaboration with the WHO Family of International Classifications in Germany (DIMDI), both located in Nottwil, Switzerland. He conducts research on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), patient outcomes, work and employment, work rehabilitation and return to work, spinal cord injury, and arthritis. Søren Brage is a Chief Medical Officer and Researcher in the Research Section at the Directorate for Labour and Welfare, Oslo, Norway. He is also a practicing medical advisor for the National Insurance Administration. He is a family physician by background, and has been a Senior Researcher at the University of Oslo 1998-2007. He is an expert in Social Insurance Medicine, and President of the European Union of Insurance Medicine (EUMASS/UEMASS). In addition to research on the use of ICF in social insurance, his field of study includes sick leave, disability benefits, disease classifications, medical practice, and international collaboration. Debra Homa is an Associate Professor in the Department of Rehabilitation and Counseling at the University of Wisconsin-Stout, where she teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in vocational assessment, job placement, and rehabilitation counseling.  She has over 25 years of experience working as a vocational evaluator and rehabilitation counselor in a variety of settings including private rehabilitation agencies, non-profit community-based rehabilitation agencies, and hospital-based programs.  Her current research interests include the ICF, vocational assessment, and client outcomes in rehabilitation, with an emphasis on employment outcomes. Gerold Stucki is the Professor and Chair of the Department of Health Sciences and Health Policy at the University of Lucerne, and the Director of Swiss Paraplegic Research and Director of the ICF Research Branch in collaboration with the WHO Family of International Classifications. In this capacity as well as within his role as part of WHO’s ICD-11 Revision Steering Group and as past president of the International Society of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (ISPRM), he has been promoting the implementation of the ICF in medicine, rehabilitation and the health sector at large, developing transdisciplinary academic training programs focusing on human functioning, disability and health and has been collaborating with WHO on various projects toward achieving WHO´s vision that “all persons with disabilities live in dignity, with equal rights and opportunities" 

Introduction.- Conceptual framework: functioning and disability.- Public health perspective.- Work and employment.- Vocational rehabilitation.- Disability evaluation.- Summary and exercise for chapters 1-5.- State of the Field: VR and DE.- Work disability assessment.- Legal issues.- Job placement.- Musculoskeletal conditions.- Neurological conditions.- Brain injuries.- Mental health and ICF.- Application of ICF to disability evaluation.- Community mental health and ICF.- Occupational disease.- Case Study.- Summary and exercise for chapters 7-17.- ICF-Based Measurement.- Patient-reported outcomes.- Clinician-reported outcomes.- Questionnaire development and testing.- ICF and multimodal rehabilitation.- Case study.- Summary and exercise for chapters 20-23. The Way Forward.- Challenges and opportunities.

"This book is a unique and comprehensive examination of issues related to employment among people with disability, using the important and timely perspective of the International Classification of Function as its organizing framework. ... this book is important for broader audiences, including clinicians such as physicians and rehabilitation therapists ... . The book is well organized and well written, with clear figures and excellent tables." (Elliot J. Roth, Doody's Book Reviews, April, 2016)