Psychosocial and Demographic Factors Associated with Requesting and Not Requesting Accommodations Among Employees with Multiple Sclerosis

Abstract

Individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS) face many workplace challenges. There are various laws that are intended to protect these individuals to have equal access to employment by requiring employers to provide workplace accommodations. To achieve benefits of workplace accommodations, individuals with MS need to disclose their disabilities and request accommodations. Limited research has examined psychosocial and demographic factors associated with requesting or not requesting workplace accommodations among people with MS. The current study aimed to fill this research gap. Eighty-six individuals with MS were recruited from agencies serving people with MS. Regarding psychosocial factors, findings show that requesters, in comparison with non-requesters, reported higher scores in self-efficacy (e.g., requesting accommodation and goal setting), outcome expectancy (e.g., perceived appropriateness and personal cost of accommodation requests), positive affect, knowledge of ADA and accommodations, job satisfaction, and a lower score in negative affect. Among demographic factors, only job tenure was significant. Rehabilitation professionals may need to assist employees with MS to foster psychosocial factors to facilitate individuals with MS, especially those with a short job tenure request accommodations and fully advantage of available workplace resources to enhance their job retention and satisfaction.