The impact of involuntary job loss on those disabled by society: a pilot study to encourage effective participation

Over half of the people who become disabled whilst employed are thought to be pressured into leaving their job. This study investigates the experience of involuntary retirement/redundancy due to disability. Three researchers who had all experienced such involuntary job loss were trained to conduct the research. Semi-structured interviews were designed and conducted by disabled researchers. The training of the researchers enabled them to successfully conduct a research project. The results of the project show the impact of involuntary job loss due to disability to be considerable. This study would suggest that government reforms to create new opportunities for disabled people of a working age are well overdue. Although there were some problems experienced with the amount of training required and the lack of objectivity, training disabled researchers to conduct research proved to be a valuable experience for both the researchers and the facilitators.