Realisation of the goals of digitalisation in disability work: Analysis of the importance of work environment and professionals’ educational background

Authors

Keywords:

Digital Services, Information Systems, Disability Work, Social Welfare, Organizational Change

Abstract

Digitalisation can have significant impacts on services for people with disabilities, where issues of adequacy and timeliness have been observed. To provide an overview of the current state of digitalisation, this study examined the realisation of digitalisation goals in disability work as experienced by professionals. It also examined the associations of work environment factors guiding digitalisation and professionals’ educational background with this realisation to identify opportunities for advancing digitalisation in the disability sector. Multivariable multinomial logistic regression analyses were performed on survey data collected from professionals (N=697) working with people with disabilities in spring 2022. Most respondents felt that digitalisation goals related to information access, progress in service processes, work timeliness, and client agency were not met. Higher education was associated with perceiving the goal of enhanced client agency as achieved, suggesting a need to expand disability work education in secondary schools to promote digital services for clients. The perception of achieving the goal related to timely work was promoted by adequate resourcing for orientation to digital work and digital tools in the workplace, as well as by effective practices in immediate leadership and the work community’s positive attitude towards digital services. Fostering a digital-friendly organisational culture is crucial for providing equitable disability services and adapting to growing digitalisation at work.

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Section
Scientific articles

Published

2024-12-31

How to Cite

Virtanen, L., Kaihlanen, A.-M., Kainiemi, E., Saukkonen, P., Valtokari, M., Väre, A., Nurmi-Koikkalainen, P., & Heponiemi, T. (2024). Realisation of the goals of digitalisation in disability work: Analysis of the importance of work environment and professionals’ educational background. Finnish Journal of EHealth and EWelfare, 16(4), 415–439. https://doi.org/10.23996/fjhw.141124