Employment outcomes of persons following traumatic brain injury: pre-injury, post-injury, and supported employment.

This paper provides a prospective analysis of the pre-injury, post-injury and supported employment work histories of 20 persons who survived a severe head injury. All persons had a very limited or inconsistent work history post-injury, due to the severity of the injury. Data are presented on the placement outcomes and include factors such as wages, hours worked, months of employment and type of occupation. The supported employment model is described and the job coach approach is presented in some detail. The most significant finding of this preliminary report is that, as an aggregate group, supported employment was able to facilitate restoration of vocational capacity from pre-injury levels based on total months worked.