This study reports on the relationship between stage of recovery and hope, meaning and responsibility for individuals diagnosed with severe mental illness. Methods: Seventy-seven people with a diagnosis of a psychotic disorder of at least 6 months' duration participated in the study. Participants completed the Self-Identified Stage of Recovery (SISR) scale, measures of component processes of recovery (Hope Scale; Positive Interpretation of Disease, SpREUK; Active Involvement, Personal Health Management Questionnaire (PHMQ) and the Recovery Assessment Scale-short (RAS). Results: Hope, meaning, Personal Confidence and Hope and Not Being Dominated by Symptoms varied significantly across stages of recovery; however, neither in a parallel nor linear fashion. Hopefulness and sense of meaning in relation to the experience of mental illness increase before personal confidence and resilience in the face of setbacks. Conclusions and implications: Symptoms appear to take less prominence in individuals' lives in later stages of recovery. Greater insight into the relationship between stage of recovery and component processes may allow for more targeted recovery-oriented support for individuals at different stages of recovery.

This study examined barriers to physical activity reported individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) and the degree to which these barriers differed across varying degrees of independence. Participants were 65 individuals recruited from the Western Australian Spinal Cord Injury database. Data on physical activity participation and perceived barriers to physical activity participation were collected using a cross-sectional survey and analysed using independent samples t-tests. We found that, regardless of level of ambulation or ability to transfer, few participants reported being physically active. While there were no significant differences in the amount of barriers reported by individuals with different levels of independence, the type of barriers reported varied across groups.

This case study outlines the accuracy of a rehabilitation counsellor in judgments of the quality of life of actual cases comprising accident victims. Up to seven cues of information relating to health, energy, daily activities, self, personal relations, money and living conditions were provided to the counsellor. He/she had to decide whether the clients considered their own quality of life to be poor or good. The counsellor was consistent in his/her judgments (test–retest reliability = .79). The counsellor was accurate in 60% of cases, but this is only marginally better than an automatic decision that every accident victim is dissatisfied with his/her quality of life. The judgment accuracy was suboptimal. It was influenced by a reliance (93%) on satisfaction with personal relationships, whereas basic issues such as money for everyday living were more important in predicting quality of life. It did not appear that increasing the amount of information led to an increase in accuracy. The correlation between accuracy and the number of cues was very low (-.160).

Psychometric properties on a newly developed Supervisor Principle Ethics Scale (SPES) are reported. The SPES was created to measure supervisees' perceptions of supervisors' use of ethical principles (Autonomy, Beneficence/Nonmaleficence, Justice, Veracity, Fidelity). Participants were vocational rehabilitation counsellors with a state agency in the United States (US) (Males = 38, Females = 49). They completed the SPES and the Supervisory Working Alliance-Trainee Form (Efstation, Patton, & Kardash, 1990). The five factors of the SPES were significantly correlated with the Supervisory Working Alliance-Trainee Form (SWAI-T), suggesting evidence of construct validity. Potential uses for the SPES in research and training activities are discussed.

This study reports the results of a preliminary study to develop a measure of employability for use in vocational rehabilitation settings. The instrument was piloted on 20 volunteer jobseeker participants then modified and trialled with a further 73 jobseeker participants. The partial credit Rasch model was applied to determine if the items formed a unidimensional construct. A 22-item Job Seeker Assessment of Employability scale resulted. The data support a developmental model of vocational rehabilitation that depicts jobseeker employability on a continuum.