Exploration of Gender-Sensitive Care in Vocational Rehabilitation Providers Working With Youth With Disabilities: Codevelopment of an Educational Simulation

Abstract

Background Although research shows that there is a need for gender-specific vocational support to help youth with disabilities find employment, health care providers often report needing more training in this area. Currently, there are no existing educational simulations of gender-sensitive care within vocational rehabilitation for clinicians who provide care to youth with disabilities. Therefore, developing further educational tools that address gender-sensitive care could help them enhance the care they provide while optimizing patient outcomes. Objective This study aims to codevelop an educational simulation and identify issues relevant to providing gender-sensitive care within the context of vocational rehabilitation for youth with disabilities. Methods We used a qualitative co-design approach with a purposive sampling strategy that involved focus group discussions and journal reflections to understand and address issues relevant to gender-sensitive care within vocational rehabilitation for those working with youth with disabilities. A total of 10 rehabilitation providers participated in two sessions (5 participants per session) to design the web-based simulation tool. The sessions (2.5 hours each) were audio recorded, transcribed, and analyzed thematically. Results Two main themes arose from our analysis of codeveloping a simulation focusing on gender-sensitive care. The first theme involved the relevance of gender within clinical practice; responses varied from hesitance to acknowledging but not talking about it to those who incorporated gender into their practice. The second theme focused on creating a comfortable and safe space to enable gender-sensitive care (ie, included patient-centered care, effective communication and rapport building, appropriate language and pronoun use, respecting gender identity, awareness of stereotypes, and responding to therapeutic ruptures). Conclusions Our web-based gender-sensitive care simulation that addressed vocational rehabilitation among youth with disabilities was cocreated with clinicians. The simulation highlights many issues relevant to clinical practice and has potential as an educational tool for those working with young people with disabilities.

A Web-Based Gender-Sensitive Educational Simulation on Vocational Rehabilitation for Service Providers Working With Youth With Disabilities: Pilot Evaluation

“…Educational simulations are considered a gold standard for skill development and learning and can be a valuable pedagogical tool for interprofessional training, while having the potential to improve patient outcomes [ 33 - 36 ]. Our educational simulation (consisting of a 10-minute web-based video) was targeted for a variety of vocational rehabilitation clinicians and service providers (eg, occupational therapists, social workers, employment counselors, and related staff) who support youth with disabilities in finding and maintaining employment [ 37 ]. The educational tool addressed gender-sensitive approaches to engage patients within vocational rehabilitation (eg, rapport development, gender-role expectations, self-advocacy, disclosure decisions, and career development) and self-reflection on the role of gender within clinical practice.…”

“…Various gendered perspectives were showcased while drawing on evidence-informed lived experiences of working with youth with disabilities. The simulation was co-created with clinicians (eg, occupational therapists, social workers, and employment counselors) who work with youth with disabilities (see [ 37 ] for full description of the simulation development). During the co-creation of this tool, clinicians and youth with disabilities decided to have the simulation focus on youth with acquired brain injury, a condition commonly seen at our hospital.…”

A Web-Based Gender-Sensitive Educational Simulation on Vocational Rehabilitation for Service Providers Working With Youth With Disabilities: Pilot Evaluation (Preprint)

“…Educational simulations are considered a gold standard for skill development and learning and can be a valuable pedagogical tool for interprofessional training, while having the potential to improve patient outcomes [33][34][35][36]. Our educational simulation (consisting of a 10-minute web-based video) was targeted for a variety of vocational rehabilitation clinicians and service providers (eg, occupational therapists, social workers, employment counselors, and related staff) who support youth with disabilities in finding and maintaining employment [37]. The educational tool addressed gender-sensitive approaches to engage patients within vocational rehabilitation (eg, rapport development, gender-role expectations, self-advocacy, disclosure decisions, and career development) and self-reflection on the role of gender within clinical practice.…”