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Book Review
Title: Comprehensive Disability Management, by Henry G. Harder and Liz R. Scott, 2005
Publisher: London : Elsevier, 2005
ISBN: 0-443-10113-2
Price: $62.95 (softcover)
Description: 212 p.
The book was written to address the need for resources to use in preparing people to work in disability management (DM) roles. The authors point out that increased application of DM concepts and practices has resulted in people from a variety of professional backgrounds being drawn in to carry out this work. Increased demand for skilled professionals in DM has led to organized courses and curricula within higher education for students interested in pursuing this DM as a profession or professional area of practice.
The book was designed to be comprehensive in scope in order to address the DM-related learning needs of trainees at various levels of education and from various backgrounds and because they believe that disability management must of necessity be comprehensive in its approach in order to be effective. The authors attempt to explain the evolution of DM by placing it in a historical context, including a condensed review of the events that have influenced the incidence and definitions of disability, societal attitudes and public policy responses to disability; and developments in rehabilitation, civil rights, and economic costs that have shaped the focus and motivated the development of DM. True to its title, the book provides a comprehensive synopsis of the organizational and operational elements needed for DM to be effective within the workplace. The chapters are organized in logical progression and address necessary program components from disability prevention to program evaluation. The authors take care to differentiate claim and case management, to demonstrate the critical role of early intervention, to explicate a simple process for determining return on investment, and to illustrate the essential process of sustained, multidirectional communications-- all very central to effective DM.
The authors assume that work is a necessary and beneficial part of life, so that retaining safe and productive work is a beneficial goal for all parties in the DM endeavor. The text is built on the premise that that DM is an organizational endeavor, which functions within the context of the employer organization as a whole and therefore must be comprehensive in its scope. The DM practitioner must be capable of assuring that the program responds effectively to the business reality of the organization, while also ensuring that the focus of the process effectively addresses the person served. Current empirical literature is used to support the key assertions the authors advance as well as using their experiential knowledge of the field to advance practice recommendations and practical examples.
The text provides an overview of what DM should be, what it should address, and an introduction about how it should be practiced at the case level. For the practitioner, additional and more extensive knowledge will be needed, for example, in order to be able to facilitate and sustain successful accommodations over time, especially for situations that are not stable or as duties change-- but the foundation is set with this text. The authors have developed the structure of the text and their choice of the content from a thorough understating of the factors that contribute to effective DM, and they have written it for use as an education and training resource. The book is a valuable resource for advancing best practice in DM-- both by solidifying the conceptual and operational framework that should characterize DM efforts and by articulating the core knowledge competencies needed by those working in DM. This is an important contribution toward the advancement of DM as a valuable approach for sustaining employment.
Review by
Dr. Rochelle Habeck, Ph.D., L.P.C., C.R.C.
Dr. Habeck was a Professor in the Department of Counselling, Educational Psychology and Special Education at Michigan State University from 1982 to 1999, and is now an independent research consultant. Her continuing research interests address the problems of disability in the work place, including prevention and management of disability and identification of factors and interventions associated with successful rehabilitation outcomes.
Email: habeck@chartermi.net
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