CEEC

Start date: 04-05-2026
End date: 03-05-2029
Research Group: Special Education and Inclusive Pedagogy; Social Challenges, Culture and Education
Funding - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P. 

Abstract

The well-being, social/professional inclusion, and participation of people with disabilities are paramount for European and National policies, following the UN Sustainable Development Agenda. Despite having invested in inclusive legislation, Portugal still presents a low employment rate (58.7%) for people with disabilities, leading to greater vulnerability to poverty and social exclusion. 

Considering these gaps between policies and outcomes, it is necessary to understand where these lie, exploring the service models provided by organisations that work in this scope. 

This project aims to address the disability employment gap through an in-depth study of the processes and practices of the service models used by organisations for the labour market integration of people with disabilities, to offer theoretical and practice-oriented developments towards person-centred approaches. 

Through a mixed-methods sequential explanatory design, based on the socioecological model of development and a critical approach, it will be organised into 3 complementary studies: 

Study 1: Critical Literature review on service models that guide organisations’ practice to prepare the labour market integration of people with disabilities (person-centred), resulting in the development of a set of descriptors of these practices. These descriptors will be used in the next study to situate the practices of Portuguese organisations within a continuum of service models and assess their outcomes for people with disabilities. 

Study 2: National portrait of practices for the labour market integration of people with disabilities. It will be composed of 2 steps:

• A. Characterisation of practices and outcomes: It will characterise practices for preparing the labour market integration by using the descriptors identified in the previous study to understand trends in the use of person-centred models, and assess the outcomes these models generate for people with disabilities. It will collect data through the Battery of Indicators of Personal Outcomes.
• B. In-depth analysis of practices and outcomes through an ethnographic study of 3 organisations, focusing on their practices, methodologies, challenges, and the experiences of individuals with disabilities, their families, and professionals.

Study 3: Co-construction of person-centred practices for the participation and integration in the labour market of people with disabilities through a participatory action research. It will result in an integrated intervention approach based on social justice to transform practices by building capacities for participatory interventions/practices.

Thus, this project will provide a characterisation of service models in the country, along with practice-oriented outcomes to impact policymaking and the transformation of practices towards person-centred approaches.