Supported Employment and Preventing Early Disability

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Unemployment
• Interventions: Behavioral: Supported Employment; Behavioral: Traditional Vocational Rehabilitation

• Registration Number: NCT02375074
• Lead Sponsor: NORCE Norwegian Research Centre AS

Brief Summary

The share of young workers falling into early work disability is an increasingly important problem in Norway. Early withdrawal or exclusion from the labor market leads to large individual and societal costs. The SEED-trial is a randomized controlled trial aiming to provide evidence-based knowledge about different approaches to prevent permanent disability and increase labor market participation in this important and vulnerable group. The trial includes young adults aged 18-30 years who are at risk of early work disability, and the participants will be randomly assigned to 1 of 2 interventions, both aimed at facilitating participation in working life:

1. Traditional Vocational Rehabilitation (TVR), offering training and preparation for the labor market in a sheltered environment

2. Supported Employment (SE), focusing on competitive employment in real-life settings without long-lasting preceding training

Both interventions are currently provided by The Norwegian Labor and Welfare Administration (NAV). Supported Employment was introduced recently and is currently being implemented, while traditional vocational rehabilitation with sheltered employment has been around for years. However, no Norwegian controlled studies have been conducted on these practices in this population. The current study will therefore provide new knowledge of the effect of traditional as well as new and promising interventions to increase labor market participation and prevent early disability.

Detailed Description

A detailed study protocol was published in BMC Public Health in 2016, and is openly available in fulltext at: https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-016-3280-x

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2014-05
• Study First Submitted: 2014-12-03
• Study First Submitted QC: 2015-02-27
• Study First Posted: 2015-03-02
• Primary Completion: 2018-07
• Study Completion: 2018-07
• Status Verified: 2020-09
• Last Update Submitted: 2020-09-15
• Last Update Posted: 2020-09-17

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 96

Inclusion Criteria

Not provided

Exclusion Criteria

Not provided

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Supported Employment	Supported Employment	Supported Employment (SE), focusing on competitive employment in real-life settings without long-lasting preceding training.
Traditional Vocational Rehabilitation	Traditional Vocational Rehabilitation	Traditional Vocational Rehabilitation (TVR), offering training and preparation for the labor market in a sheltered environment.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Any competitive employment (yes/no)	12 months	Several sources of information for competitive employment will be used: Survey data for hours worked and success in employment, and register data for receipt of social security benefits, income, financial assistance, and educational activity.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Alcohol and drug abuse	12 months	Survey data
Physical and mental health	12 months	Survey data (anxiety, depression, disability, fatigue, subjective health complaints, quality of life)
Coping	12 months	Survey data
Illness perceptions	12 months	Survey data
Cost effectiveness	12 months	Cost/benefit analysis

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

NORCE Norwegian Research Centre; 🇳🇴 Bergen, Norway