Objective: Sustainable employment is now recognized as a fundamental criterion for assessing quality of life and individual capabilities. This concept is particularly important for persons with disabilities, as employment not only contributes to meeting their economic needs but also enhances self-confidence and social participation and reduces social vulnerabilities associated with disability. Kermanshah Province, with its distinctive geographical, social, and economic characteristics, presents both challenges and opportunities for employing persons with disabilities. On the one hand, local and traditional cultural contexts may influence attitudes toward their capabilities; on the other, the province's existing economic potential can provide a favorable basis for creating employment opportunities. Accordingly, this study aimed to develop successful models of sustainable employment for persons with disabilities within the framework of the Community-Based Rehabilitation (CBR) program in Kermanshah Province.
Methods: The study was applied in terms of purpose and employed an exploratory mixed-methods research design. In the qualitative phase, inductive content analysis was used, while the quantitative phase employed an integrated DEMATEL-ISM (Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory–Interpretive Structural Modeling) approach. The study population consisted of academic experts, welfare organization specialists, and professionals from relevant institutions directly involved in the employment of persons with disabilities, as well as persons with disabilities. In the qualitative phase, purposive snowball sampling was continued until theoretical saturation was reached. In the quantitative phase, 25 experts were selected purposively and through convenience sampling. Data were collected through a review of secondary sources, semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, and a researcher-developed questionnaire.
Results: The qualitative findings identified product networking and market development, stabilization and continuous improvement of employment initiatives, vocational counseling tailored to disability type and climatic conditions, psychological capacity building and skills empowerment, financial and infrastructural support, and identification of employment applicants and individuals with entrepreneurial potential as key factors influencing the development of sustainable employment models for persons with disabilities. The quantitative findings indicated a four-stage process: first, identifying applicants and individuals with entrepreneurial potential; second, providing vocational counseling based on disability type and climatic conditions; third, implementing psychological capacity building and skills empowerment alongside financial and infrastructural support; and fourth, establishing product networks and markets, together with business guidance and continuous improvement.
Conclusions: Achieving sustainable employment for persons with disabilities in rural areas requires a coherent and sequential process that can be implemented through four strategic stages: accurate identification of individuals with employment potential, provision of vocational counseling tailored to disability type and climatic conditions, psychological and skills empowerment accompanied by financial and infrastructural support, and ultimately, networking, market development, and business guidance. The causal and structural sequence of these stages indicates that employment sustainability can be achieved only when vocational guidance, empowerment, and employment consolidation are implemented as a continuous and interconnected process. The proposed model, together with the study's practical recommendations concerning identification, skills enhancement, and the development of diversified business models, can serve as an effective framework for employment policymaking for persons with disabilities within the Community-Based Rehabilitation program in Kermanshah Province.