Collaboration between Hospitals and Employment Support Agencies on Vocational Reintegration for Patients with Higher Brain Dysfunctions

This study explored how experienced medical staff at hospitals would perceive the collaboration with vocational rehabilitation (VR) professionals in their employment support (ES) for patients with higher brain dysfunctions (HBD). Qualitative data were obtained by semi-structured interviews with three experts who had sufficient professional experience in providing the “hospital-to-work” transition services upon their patients’ discharge. Qualitative data analysis resulted the six perceptions on VR collaboration, namely; “Capturing the Present Labor Market,” “Client’s Limited Understanding of ES Agencies,” “Assessing the Reactions of ES Agencies,” “Accumulating and Examining Factors Contributing to Successful and Unsuccessful Cases,” “Developing Concrete Strategies to Address Challenges in Collaboration,” and “Articulating the Ideal Form of Collaboration.” Experienced medical staff reported that collaboration with VR professionals was challenging because both medical and vocational personnel had limited expertise in supporting the hospital-to-work transition, and collaboration was further hindered by infrastructural constraints, such as limitations in service delivery systems and human resources.