The Diversity Partners Project: Multi-systemic knowledge translation and business engagement strategies to improve employment of people with disabilities

Abstract

Abstract. BACKGROUND:Fragmented employment service systems, a lack of information about disability across sectors, and a wide disconnect between the efforts to employ people with disabilities and the needs of the business community, have presented barriers to the adoption of best practices and effective implementation of new policies designed to improve the employment rate of people with disabilities. OBJECTIVE: The goal of the Diversity Partners Project is to develop, test, and launch an innovative learning intervention to improve the relationships between employment service professionals (including disability services, workforce development and staffing organizations) and employers seeking to hire individuals with disabilities. This paper illustrates how a systematic approach to knowledge translation (KT) was used in an iterative intervention development process that engaged key stakeholders at every phase. CONCLUSION: In the disability arena, KT requires a willingness to challenge strongly held assumptions on the part of the project team, to move swiftly and repeatedly between inquiry and development, and to honestly engage with potential stakeholders who have a vested interest in the development efforts being undertaken.

Lessons from the Diversity Partners Project: Using knowledge translation to strengthen business engagement strategies and improve employment outcomes for job seekers with disabilities

“…In a 2016 review of the literature regarding demand-side factors and their impact on improving competitive employment rates for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, only six studies were found which specifically sought to capture employer perspectives as the study population (Ellenkamp, et al, 2016). Those find-ings are consistent with the literature scan conducted during the 2015 development phase of the Diversity Partners Project, which uncovered nine articles directly relating to effective business engagement practices, most of which were descriptive in nature (Harris, et al, 2017). The challenge remains not only to identify promising and evidence-based employer engagement practices, but to develop effective methods of encouraging the adoption and use of those practices in community-based organization settings (Gilbride & Sensrud, 2008).…”

“…A secondary aim of the project is to increase representation of people with disabilities in career-driven training and supports within the public workforce development system, as well as secondary and post-secondary education and training programs. Diversity Partners utilized a knowledge translation (KT) framework to design a multi-faceted intervention, as described in Harris, Switzer, and Gower (2017). The National Institute on Disability Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research defines KT as the "multidimensional, active process of ensuring that new knowledge gained through the course of research ultimately improves the lives of people with disabilities, and furthers their participation in society" (NIDRR, 2005).…”