Long Term Social Assistance Recipient in South Eastern Sweden - a Description of Health, Function, and Activity

Long Term Social Assistance Receipt - An Observational Study of Health, Function, and Activity

There is a group of social assistance recipients which have difficulties in entering the labor market and thus remains in a long-term dependency on social assistance. More knowledge about individuals receiving long-term social assistance is needed in order to improve into work interventions for this group. Therefore, this study aims to describe variables of health, function and activity in participants receiving long-term social assistance.

Study Overview

• Status: Unknown
• Conditions: Vocational Rehabilitation
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Investigation of health and activity

Detailed Description

There is a group of social assistance recipients who have difficulties in entering the labor market and thus remains in a long-term dependency on social assistance. More knowledge about individuals receiving long-term social assistance is needed in order to improve into-work interventions for this group. Therefore, this study aims to describe variables of health, function and activity in participants receiving long-term social assistance. Individuals who have received social assistance during more than three years, who report physical and/or psychological difficulties, and/or have a complex social situation will be asked for participation in a six months activity-based investigation including contact with social worker, psychologist, occupational therapist, physical therapist and labor market consultant. The intervention aims to clarify the participants hinders and resources for entering the labor market. The participants are going to answer a questionnaire about health, function, and activity before and after the investigation. In addition, the participants function and ability to perform activities will be classified using the International Classification of Functioning (ICF). Data from the questionnaires and from ICF recordings will be used to describe variables of health, function and ability to be active. Participants who manage to get closer to, or enter into, the labor market will be asked to participate in a qualitative interview study about the experiences of the change. In addition, social workers will be asked to participate in focus-group interviews about experiences from the professional contact and work with the participants. The quantitative data will be analysed using traditional statistics and multivariate data analysis. Qualitative data will be analysed using qualitative content analysis.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 100

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Linn Karlsson, PhD; Phone Number: +46 13206675; Email: linn.b.karlsson@linkoping.se

Study Locations

• Sweden
  • Östergötland
    • Linköping, Östergötland, Sweden, SE 581 85
      • Faculty of Health Sciences, Linköping University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 65 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Individuals who have been social assistance recipients for at least three years and who not have a plan how to get closer to the labor market. There may be signs of different kinds of ill-health such as physical, pshychological and/or social ill-health. The social worker responsible for decision about the monetary support identifies a need for establishing the working ability of the individual with the aim to agree on a plan towards self-sufficiency.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Long-term social assistance recipient (more than three years)
• Putative ill-health (physical, psychological and/or social)
• No present plan how to reach the labor market
• Need of clarifying the working ability

Exclusion Criteria:

• Homelessness
• Severe psychiatric illness
• Abuse of alcohol or substances

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

1

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort	Intervention / Treatment
Health and activity; The cohort consists of long-term social assistance recipients where there is need to investigate the health status and working ability.	Other: Investigation of health and activity; During a six months multidisciplinary investigation of health status, activity and working ability for individuals receiving long-term social assistance, the health and activity status as well as function will be described using established questionnaires and the International Classification of Functioning

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in quality of life	The change in participants self-rated experience of quality of life is going to be described using EuroQol 5 Dimensions which contains a rating of the ability to perform activities, and also a score of the total quality of life experience.	Change between the beginning and the end of the six months intervention
Change in self-rated function and ability to be active	The change in participants self-rated function and ability to be active is going to be described using the World Health Organisation Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS) which contains five-grade ratings of factors including functioning, activity and participation.	Change between the beginning and the end of the six months intervention
Change in objective description of function and ability to be active	The change in an objective classification of function, activity, participation and environmental factors affecting disability will be described according to the International Classification of Functioning (ICF) in the beginning and at the end of the six month intervention. The ICF contains a number of components, where each component can be scored using a five-grade scale to clarify the magnitude of disability.	Change between the beginning and the end of the six months intervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Qualitative description of experiences about an increase in activity ability	Participants experiences about a change towards higher ability to be active will be described using qualitative interviews.	After the six moths intervention
Qualitative description of social workers experiences from the work with long-term social assistance recipients	Social workers experiences from their work with helping clients to get closer to the labor market will be described using qualitative interviews.	After the six moths intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Linkoeping University
• Collaborators: Linkoeping Municipality
• Investigators: Study Chair: Linn Karlsson, PhD, Linkoeping Municipality, Linkoeping University

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• van Vilsteren M, van Oostrom SH, de Vet HC, Franche RL, Boot CR, Anema JR. Workplace interventions to prevent work disability in workers on sick leave. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2015 Oct 5;2015(10):CD006955. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD006955.pub3.
• Vogel N, Schandelmaier S, Zumbrunn T, Ebrahim S, de Boer WE, Busse JW, Kunz R. Return-to-work coordination programmes for improving return to work in workers on sick leave. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2017 Mar 30;3(3):CD011618. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD011618.pub2.
• Arends I, Bruinvels DJ, Rebergen DS, Nieuwenhuijsen K, Madan I, Neumeyer-Gromen A, Bultmann U, Verbeek JH. Interventions to facilitate return to work in adults with adjustment disorders. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2012 Dec 12;12:CD006389. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD006389.pub2.
• Madden RH, Dune T, Lukersmith S, Hartley S, Kuipers P, Gargett A, Llewellyn G. The relevance of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) in monitoring and evaluating Community-based Rehabilitation (CBR). Disabil Rehabil. 2014;36(10):826-37. doi: 10.3109/09638288.2013.821182. Epub 2013 Aug 14.
• Prodinger B, Stucki G, Coenen M, Tennant A. The measurement of functioning using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health: comparing qualifier ratings with existing health status instruments. Disabil Rehabil. 2019 Mar;41(5):541-548. doi: 10.1080/09638288.2017.1381186. Epub 2017 Oct 8.

Helpful Links

• The national board of health and welfare in Sweden
• The social service act

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Anticipated): December 1, 2018
• Primary Completion (Anticipated): January 1, 2021
• Study Completion (Anticipated): January 1, 2021

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: November 19, 2018
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 21, 2018
• First Posted (Actual): November 23, 2018

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): November 23, 2018
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 21, 2018
• Last Verified: November 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Health, activity, function and long-term social assistance
• Other Study ID Numbers: TU-001-1811

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: The co-authors will have access to the underlying interview data for the qualitative analysis. Quantitative data will be coded and not able to identify to any participant for the co-authors. However, it may be necessary for the co-authors to get access to the quantitative (anonymized) raw data.
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: The data will become available during analysis and manuscript writing. Probable for about six moths per paper.
• IPD Sharing Access Criteria: Co-authors who will be participating in analysis and manuscript preparation.
• IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type: STUDY_PROTOCOL; SAP; ICF; ANALYTIC_CODE; CSR

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No