Abstract:
This study investigated the education, training, and developmental support offered to
employees with disabilities, the contribution thereof to their wellness, and the support
needed to further improve their wellness. The Bio-psycho-social Model of Disability and
the Six-dimensional Model of Wellness were used as the theoretical lenses to better
understand disability and wellness. The aim was to answer the research question, “What
kind of education, training, and developmental support is offered to employees with
disabilities in organisations?”
Within the interpretivist paradigm, the researcher used qualitative research to better
understand the wellness experiences and developmental needs of employees with
disabilities. Twelve participants were identified with the assistance of organisational
representatives as part of snowball sampling, before the researcher conducted semistructured interviews with each. The researcher and an independent co-coder then
analysed the data, using content analysis.
The study revealed that participants described mostly positive experiences on all six
wellness dimensions, but they considered the education, training, and developmental
support provided insufficient on most of the dimensions. They indicated that, to improve
their wellness, their employers need to offer disability-specific education, training, and
developmental support to all stakeholders including colleagues, managers and
community members. This stressed the need for a wellness framework that includes the
education, training, and developmental needs unique to disability.
The Wellness Framework for Employees with Disabilities proposed as a result of this
study indicates the participants’ personal and work-related developmental needs, as well
as the organisational and community development they feel will contribute to their
wellness. This support should also empower employees with disabilities to become
change champions for disability, to drive disability awareness, and, with organisational
support, change and ensure the implementation of relevant public policies.
The study was limited by the availability of research on disability, and further research to
evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed wellness framework and the disability-related
public policy developed since 2014 is suggested. Future studies could also investigate
other wellness variables, to holistically understand the wellness of persons, specifically
those with disabilities.
