JDAPT to support a worker

The JDAPT to support a worker works best when used by someone who is familiar with both the worker and their job, such as

• a supervisor or direct manager, or
• someone who has worked closely with the worker to support them in regard to their disability.

The JDAPT can be

• used for almost all types of jobs,
• filled out on your own as preparation for a conversation with the worker, or
• completed together with the worker if the worker agrees.

Workers should be told that the JDAPT does not require them to share a health diagnosis or symptoms of a health condition.

The JDAPT to support a worker focuses on managing specific job demands and moves the conversation away from a health diagnosis or symptoms, which workers often want to remain private. Some of the ideas and strategies can be implemented by the worker on their own. Other supports will need approval from someone at the organization.

As someone who is familiar with the worker and their job, completing the JDAPT to support a worker can help you better understand how a worker’s episodic disability may affect their ability to do their job and will provide you with suggestions for potential strategies, accommodations and supports that are targeted to those needs.

Even if a health condition is not currently affecting a worker’s ability to do their job, the JDAPT points to self-management and other supports that can help ensure a worker can continue to work comfortably and productively in their job for as long as possible.

The JDAPT is:

• not a formal functional assessment, job analysis or cognitive demands analysis tool;
• not a screening or selection tool for hiring or promotion;
• not meant to provide advice regarding disclosure of an ongoing health condition or disability;
• not intended to provide expert or legal advice;
• not a job performance evaluation tool.

The JDAPT is grounded in research and was developed by the Accommodating and Communicating about Episodic Disabilities (ACED) team, housed at the Institute for Work & Health, a not-for-profit research organization based in Toronto, Canada. Learn more about ACED tools, including the JDAPT for workers, here.

The JDAPT is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. That means this tool can be used and shared as long as IWH is credited as the source, the information is not modified, and the information is used for non-commercial purposes. Read more here.