A Narrative Review of Vocational Rehabilitation in People with Spinal Cord Injury in Different Countries.

BACKGROUND

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a life-long neurological disease. This study reviews the literature on the vocational rehabilitation (VR) of people who experience SCI.

METHODS

MEDLINE (via PubMed), Web of Science, EMBASE, Google Scholar, ProQuest, and Science Direct databases were searched. The inclusion criteria of the articles included the following: describing adults with SCI only, the English or Persian language, and involving people of workforce age. Conference abstracts, case studies, and editorials were excluded.

RESULTS

The eligibility of 186 full-text articles was assessed, and 124 studies met the inclusion criteria. Most studies focused on barriers and facilitators for work in people with SCI.

CONCLUSION

There are no current services and programs in Iran that support post-injury employment of people with SCI, and therefore, there remains a need for studies addressing employment in this population.