Date of Graduation

8-2010

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Rehabilitation (PhD)

Degree Level

Graduate

Department

Rehabilitation, Human Resources and Communication Disorders

Advisor/Mentor

Brent Williams

Committee Member

Richard Roessler

Second Committee Member

Ronna Turner

Third Committee Member

Lynn Koch

Keywords

Chronic illness, multiple sclerosis, multiple sclerosis and employment, turnover, turnover intention, vocational rehabilitation

Abstract

The organization and management literature presents a large base of research on the concept of turnover intention, i.e. the point at which a person decides to leave employment. What is known is that turnover intention is the precursor to employee turnover, yet very little research exists in the rehabilitation field to address this concept in terms of persons with chronic illness and disability. This study examines this variable in the population of adults with multiple sclerosis (MS). Employing multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) to analyze three blocks of variables and their impact on turnover intention, the results show that groups with low turnover intention differ significantly from groups with high turnover intention on environmental variables. Interventions geared toward counselors within the state-federal rehabilitation system, which would amend current agency policy, are recommended.

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