Working Well with a Disability
What is Working Well with a Disability?
Working Well with a Disability (WWD) is a 6-week workshop for people with disabilities who want to be employed. It is built on the successes of the Living Well in the Community program by continuing with similar concepts, but it tailors information to individuals preparing for, or trying to maintain employment.
People with disabilities describe secondary health conditions as a barrier to employment (Ipsen, Seekins, & Arnold, in press; Kaye, 2009). Secondary conditions include pressure sores, chronic pain, fatigue, depression, and a variety of other conditions. These conditions can interfere with a person’s ability to get and keep a job. Working Well presents health promotion concepts to help people develop lifestyle behaviors that can reduce the limitations they experience from secondary conditions. Specifically, this program provides the tools to maintain a healthy life balance while meeting the demands of employment.
What does Working Well do for people?
The Working Well with a Disability research findings suggest that people most affected by secondary conditions who participate in the Working Well program experience significant reductions in limitations from secondary conditions. The workshop appears to be an effective way to reduce problems of secondary conditions like chronic pain, fatigue, and depressed mood that may act as barriers to obtaining and maintaining employment. When their lives are out of balance, Working Well helps people develop a healthy lifestyle to manage health conditions so they can focus on getting and keeping a job.
To attend a Working Well with a Disability workshop, contact a Montana Center for Independent Living
Facilitate a Working Well with a Disability workshop
Visit the Working Well with a Disability consumer workshop website
Program Reports
- Findings from a Study of the Working Well with a Disability Program, 2010
- Working Well with a Disability: Research Progress Report, 2009
- Building the Case: Health Promotion for Vocational Rehabilitation Consumers, 2007
- Working Well with a Disability: Project Update, 2005
- Linking Health, Secondary Conditions and Employment Outcomes, 2004
For more information about the Working Well with a Disability program, please contact the Healthy Community Living team at:
healthycommunityliving@mso.umt.edu
406-243-4256