Strategies to Reduce Barriers to Employment for Persons with Mobility Disabilities
Abstract
Disparate employment rates exist between persons with without disabilities in the Midwestern United States. Employers have concerns about hiring disabled applicants and lack awareness of strategies to reduce barriers to hiring persons with mobility-type disabilities. The purpose of this qualitative classical Delphi study was to determine how a panel of 28 disability awareness experts viewed the desirability and feasibility of forward-looking strategies for decreasing barriers to employment among individuals with a mobility-type disability in the Midwestern United States. The research question and subquestions focused on the desirability and feasibility of forward-looking strategies for decreasing these employment barriers. The theory of planned behavior was used to develop the conceptual framework. Panelists completed 3 rounds of data collection and reached consensus on 26 desirable and feasible strategies in 8 categories. Data analysis included identifying items from the participants' narrative responses and calculating the median and top 2 ratings for desirability and feasibility for each item. The positive social change implications include the identification of forward-looking strategies to decrease barriers to hiring persons with disabilities. Reducing employment barriers may also improve financial stability for persons with a mobility-type disability. Additionally, reducing barriers to employment of workers with a mobility-type disability could help to improve the economy in the Midwestern United States.
