Since the release of two tools designed to support the sustained employment of people with chronic and episodic conditions, the Institute for Work & Health (IWH) research team behind the tools has been encouraged by number of new audiences who have learned about and adopted them.
Much of the credit for how quickly word has spread goes to organizations that promoted the tools to the individuals and client organizations that they serve. This impact case study outlines how three such organizations—in their roles as intermediaries
—have helped these tools reach the hands of workers, employers and post-secondary students who are about to move forward in the labour market.
The two tools were developed as part of a partnership project led by IWH called Accommodating and Communicating about Episodic Disabilities (ACED). (Episodic disabilities stem from long-term health conditions that are often invisible and characterized by symptoms that can re-occur, fluctuate or worsen over time.)The Job Demands and Accommodation Planning Tool (JDAPT), launched in March 2023, helps workers with episodic disabilities, and the workplace parties who support them, identify accommodations that allow workers to successfully stay in their jobs. The Decision-Support for Communicating about Invisible Disabilities that are Episodic (DCIDE) tool, launched in November 2024, helps workers consider whether or not to share some personal health information with others at work.
The ACED project team, led by IWH Scientific Director and Senior Scientist Dr. Monique Gignac, used a variety of communication channels—including websites, social media channels, newsletters and webinars—to reach a wide audience. Partner organizations on the ACED project have also used their own communication channels to inform their networks about these tools. But other organizations have also been key to extending the project’s reach, by passing on information about the project to their networks or clients. (At IWH, these organizations are referred to as intermediaries
: organizations that inform their clients or members about the results or products of IWH research.) The Ontario Disability Employment Network (ODEN), Humber Polytechnic, and Bravework have each been important intermediaries in promoting awareness about the ACED tools to people who can benefit from using them.
ODEN is a professional network of Employment Service Providers united to increase employment opportunities for people who have a disability. Its staff were among the first promoters of the tools, and ODEN has hosted several presentations by Gignac. The first was as early as November 2022, even before the ACED project officially launched its first tool.
The ACED tools provide practical supports that each of our client groups can use,
says Sarah Birch, Disability Employment Inclusion Specialist at ODEN. Job seekers can use the JDAPT in their career planning, as well as both the JDAPT and DCIDE to guide their communications at work after obtaining employment. Employers can use the JDAPT to help identify the most suitable accommodations to help employees with chronic or episodic conditions realize their potential. Employment service providers can point their clients to the JDAPT as a useful tool to support employment of people with such health conditions.
ODEN has been promoting use of the JDAPT as a valuable resource as part of several training programs for their membership and businesses they work with. Testimonials they received from their clients highlight the utility of the tool. I’ve heard very positive comments about the JDAPT from participants in our training programs and in discussions after my presentations about it,
says Birch, who sometimes demonstrated how the tool works in her presentations. People see it as a helpful tool, unlike anything they have seen before.
Humber Polytechnic, located in Toronto, has been another important intermediary promoting the ACED tools, particularly the JDAPT. Staff at the institution's Advising and Career Services department have been encouraging Humber students with disabilities to use the JDAPT in their career planning.
The JDAPT can help our students and recent grads with disabilities to sustain meaningful employment,
says Dimple Rai, Associate Director, Advising & Career Services at Humber. We have had positive feedback from Humber students who have used it. They have found the JDAPT helpful and practical in guiding how they plan to approach workplace accommodations. It will continue to be part of the toolkit that we offer.
One of the department’s services is the Transition to Work program, currently funded in partnership with CIBC, which holds workshops, symposia and other events with the aim to enhance successful career outcomes and strategies for students with disabilities. In 2024, organizers invited Gignac to present the JDAPT at the May Transition to Work Symposium themed “Workplace Accommodations Tools & Tips”. On top of about 200 Humber staff, alumni and students, there were also attendees from Seneca Polytechnic and other higher education institutions in the Toronto area. Dr. Gignac’s presentation on the ACED project and the JDAPT was very well received,
says Nafeeza Kadir, Manager, Advising Services at Humber, who helped to organize the event.
Bravework, based in Winnipeg, is another organization that has found the ACED tools helpful. Founded and led by Anne Macgregor, Bravework provides disability management and vocational rehabilitation services to individuals with disabilities, employers and insurance agencies. Its work supports people who have experienced an injury as well as those with chronic or episodic health conditions.
We use the JDAPT in our work and have found it very helpful, particularly for people with episodic conditions who are thinking about returning to work after a work absence,
says Macgregor, who learned of the ACED project from a colleague. Bravework uses the JDAPT to help workers plan conversations with their supervisor about accommodations. Because the JDAPT covers a wide range of job demands and offers practical suggestions, it gives people a thorough picture of accommodation possibilities that can help them return to or continue in their job or help them do well in a new job.
Bravework has also begun to use the DCIDE tool. DCIDE is a wonderful tool to help workers determine how much information about their condition would likely be safe to disclose in light of the work environment and culture,
says Macgregor.
The experiences of ODEN, Humber Polytechnic and Bravework illustrate the important role that intermediary organizations can play in helping research findings or evidence-based tools reach people who can use them or put them into practice.
Through their outreach and dissemination, these organizations have helped people with chronic or episodic health conditions learn about the ACED project and its tools, and use them to get the supports they need to fully realize their potential at work.