Project Description:
Each year, millions of workers experience on and off the job injuries or illnesses that
remove them from the workforce (Rubin, Roessler, & Rumrill, 2016; Ben-Shalom, 2016).
These workers may move from short-term to long-term disability benefits, culminating at
the federal disability Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) rolls, often never returning
to the workforce (Strauser, 2014). This negatively impacts the economic outlook for
employers who are faced with employee turnover arising from vacant positions, lost
productivity and resulting decreased output. The RETAINing Kentuckys Workforce through Universal Design (RKW-UD) project seeks to help workers stay at work and return to work in the event of injury or illness, using frameworks that are proving to be successful for states while embedding attributes around universal design, assistive technology, peer supports, and a strong collaborative emphasis that represents Kentucky strengths.