JDAPT Studies - Participant Update

Thank you to all of the people who participated in our two studies on the Job Demands and Accommodation Planning Tool (JDAPT) — we couldn't do our research without you.

JDAPT Sensibility Study

As a first step to evaluating the ACED Job Demands and Accommodation Planning Tool (JDAPT), we did a study to assess its “sensibility”, that is, we wished to learn about the tool’s

• Comprehensiveness: does it cover the demands of someone’s job?
• Understandability: are the instructions clear; do the questions make sense?
• Relevance: does the JDAPT help someone think about a job and a worker’s challenges; would you use it?
• Feasibility and Length: how easy is it to use the tool; is it too long?

Between September 2019 and May 2020, the ACED research team interviewed 69 people, including 46 workers with chronic, episodic health conditions and 23 people who support workers as a part of their job (e.g., managers, HR, employment counsellors, disability managers).
We asked each participant to complete the JDAPT questions, and then we asked them questions about the specific job demands and examples.

Overall, the JDAPT was rated highly relevant and useful.

Study participants provided additional job demand examples, and three new job demands were added to improve the tool’s comprehensiveness.

97% thought that the instructions are clear

86% found the tool easy to complete

93% felt the tool helps someone understand a worker’s challenges

Read the open access paper here for free (doi:10.1007/s10926-022-10057-4).

JDAPT Evaluation Study

Starting in 2022, we conducted a second study to assess whether people used the JDAPT over a 9-month period, whether they found it helpful and whether they experienced benefits at work after using the tool.

We surveyed people with chronic, episodic health conditions three times. Of the 269 people who were surveyed before they had used the JDAPT, 70% completed all three questionnaires, including at three months and nine months after they first used the JDAPT.

Many people reported using JDAPT strategies both at work and outside of work, and they had positive perceptions of the tool’s ease of use, relevance to their job and health needs, and helpfulness.

Confidence

On average, participants reported that their confidence – also called self-efficacy – 
in managing the impact of their health on their job significantly increased after using the JDAPT.

Productivity problems

Participants also reported less difficulty in getting as much work done as others expected, and fewer days absence from work in the past six months.

Comments from JDAPT users:

“I found that just going through the initial questionnaires helped me realize how demanding my job is—physically, mentally and emotionally and that it is OK not to be able to handle everything when my health isn't at its greatest…. The questionnaires helped me with the wording for my [accommodation] request.”
- physiotherapist with multiple chronic physical conditions

“These materials helped me recognize areas of work where I was excelling and areas where I needed to improve. They also helped me when I changed jobs to think of what I needed in the new workplace to succeed.”
- youth worker with neurodiversity, physical and mental health needs

“Some suggestions that are self-done I was able to use…. [The] biggest thing was actually talking with my employer and they had some accommodation already setup that were on the list and I didn't know existed.”
- longshore worker with Crohn’s disease

“[I] was able to speak with boss/coworkers about expectations of when I need to take a breather/break and not feel awkward.”
- mechanic with multiple sclerosis

Read the open access paper here for free (doi:10.1007/s10926-024-10231-w)