Early vocational rehabilitation for people with spinal cord injury: a research protocol using realist synthesis and interviews to understand how and why it works

This research aims to understand how early vocational rehabilitation helps people with spinal cord injuries return to work. It will use a realist synthesis approach, which looks at how the context of the rehabilitation affects its success. The study will involve reviewing existing literature, interviewing people with spinal cord injuries, and surveying those who have received early vocational rehabilitation. The goal is to create a plan for implementing early intervention vocational rehabilitation to improve return-to-work outcomes for people with various acquired impairments.

• 1
  The study aims to explain how contextual factors trigger relevant mechanisms to facilitate return to work after SCI.
• 2
  The research will identify context–mechanism–outcome (CMO) configurations to be tested and refined throughout the realist synthesis.
• 3
  The study will explore experiences of early vocational rehabilitation and various contexts and mechanisms that appear to contribute (or not) to the successful negotiation of RTW.