BTHG-RB: Accompanying the implementation of the Federal Participation Act within the framework of the Rehabilitation advisory service

Background:
In 2016 the Federal Participation Act (in German: Bundesteilhabegesetz, BTHG) entered into force. The intention of the legal changes was to enable people with disabilities to lead a self-determined life that is as equal, comprehensive, and effective as possible. Moreover, the BTHG has impacted vocational rehabilitation counseling as well. Changes because of the BTHG include, for example, that networked contact points should provide barrier-free information options for rehabilitation and work participation. The rehabilitation needs of insured individuals should be determined comprehensively and not just with a focus on their own responsibilities. If the need of support is the responsibility of more than one provider, all service providers have to collaborate and facilitate the provision of services as if from a single source. The two cooperation partners, the Deutsche Rentenversicherung Nord and Deutsche Rentenversicherung Knappschaft-Bahn-See, have made different degrees of progress in implementing the legal requirements of the BTHG. Our study “Accompanying the implementation of the Federal Participation Act in the context of rehabilitation counseling” (BTHG-RB) examines and accompanies the implementation of the requirements for rehabilitation counselling that are associated with the Federal Participation Act.

Methods:
Our study uses a controlled mixed-method design and examines the requirements of the law for the rehabilitation counseling of the cooperation partners. In the first of three project steps, the research project explores the initial situation of rehabilitation counseling. In addition to a document analysis of counseling protocols, questionnaires are used to collect data from participants at the beginning of counseling and six months after the first counseling. Furthermore, interviews and a systematic review will be conducted, which try to identify factors for an effective counseling at an international level. In a second step, the implementation of the requirements resulting from the BTHG will be discussed in a Delphi process together with experts and rehabilitation counselors. In a third and final step, the development of a BTHG-oriented counseling guideline and its implementation in practice will be monitored and evaluated.