The Concept of Professional Psychological Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities Acquired during Combats and Special Military Operations as a Resource for Organizations of Higher Education

The paper presents an analysis of scientific research on rehabilitation of persons with disabilities acquired during special military operations. We identified scientific deficiencies in secondary vocational rehabilitation and vocational retraining of these persons. We described main approaches of the concept of professional and psychological rehabilitation in the context of psychophysiological, psychological, professional-pedagogical and socio-environmental directions. The resource potential of educational institutions of higher education is analyzed from the point of view of the effectiveness of the implementation of this concept.

Introduction

The problem of the rehabilitation of persons with disabilities acquired during the performance of official duty during combat and special military operations (hereinafter this category is referred to as persons (person) with disabilities) has important scientific and practical significance.

Combatants are a specific contingent that require rehabilitation, and persons with disabilities of this category can be identified as a group of special social risk (V.S. Ageev, O.E. Prudnikova and others) [9].

When acquiring a disability, most from them they are forced to build a new perspective on life. A significant part (87%) forms a disabled identity that determines an implementation by them of destructive strategies of social functioning (Yu.M. Karayani) [8].

In domestic science, the research of problems of participants in military operations are concentrated within the framework of socio-medical (R.A. Abdurakhmanov, S.I. Syedin, P.A. Korchemny, L.A. Kitaev-Smyk, I.V. Soloviev, N.V. Tarabrina, etc.), medical and psychological approaches (L.V. Smekalkina, E.A. Nechaev, V.I. Zakharov and others) [8].

The issues of the pedagogical rehabilitation of military personnel performing service and combat duty are considered fragmentally, from the point of view of preventing behavioral deviations and forming moral and psychological stability  (E.I. Fedak, S.V. Lopatko, etc.) [11].

A single study of vocational rehabilitation is presented based on the provisions of the economic theory of the labor and employment of disabled combatants and military service (E.A. Zakharova) [5].

The modern concept of the integrated rehabilitation of participants in the Special Military Operation in Ukraine (SMO) includes medical rehabilitation, psychological and legal support, social support, training in additional professional training programs, the formation of certain categories of military specializations (T.N. Bonkalo) [1].

However, even a wide range of studies does not provide a systematic, scientifically based vision of the conditions for the complex rehabilitation of persons with disabilities of this category in the context of loss or disability, socio-psychological and professional readaptation.

There are also no studies reflecting the modern reality of the Special Military Operation, in which different contingents of citizens participate: career military personnel, military personnel who have started contract service just prior to the SMO, mobilized personnel, volunteers with different basic professional skills, values orientations and socio-psychological priorities.

That is why the authors see it as necessary to develop a scientific concept, the key notion of which is the professional and psychological rehabilitation of persons with disabilities in this category.

Main Part

Psychological rehabilitation should not be limited to relieving the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, and is designed to focus on the development and liberation of the healthy potential of the individual, the formation of a normal social identity.

In this concept, professional psychological rehabilitation is considered as a complex of influences of a psychophysiological, psychological, professional-pedagogical and social-environmental nature, aimed to identify and update rehabilitation potential.

The essence of rehabilitation potential is determined based on the study and the generalizations of the socio-psychological portrait of a person with a given disability category and the comparative analysis of the characteristics of self-perception in normotypicity and disability in the context of various conditions of its acquisition.

The goal of professional psychological rehabilitation is to restore the normal social and professional functioning of the individual using the tools of psychoneurorehabilitation, psychoprophylaxis and psychocorrection, secondary career guidance and professional retraining, taking into account legal (how?), institutional (where?), personnel (by whom?) aspects.

Let us consider the areas of professional psychological rehabilitation in within this concept.

The goal of psychoneurorehabilitation work is to strengthen the cortical-subcortical interactions in the brain of subjects.

In the context of this approach, research moves in an “upwards” direction along the cerebral vertical. This level is based on taking into account the depths of the diencephalon, the nature of their emotiogenic generation. Congenital forms of an aggressive character, the cerebral generator of which lies most deeply (6—8 axial section of the brain), in case of their individually high degree of severity, requires special instrumental neurorehabilitation interventions, because they are the most negative. Personalized work specifically at them is directed on neurofeedback using biofeedback (hereinafter referred to as BFB) and the electroencephalogram (hereinafter referred to as EEG).

Then the psychological status is studied, that is, the implementation of the functions of the higher neocortical level (psyche, intellect, behavior) is optimized.

As a result, social aspirations are assessed, that is, higher nervous activity, which is provided primarily convexitally, along the scalp horizontal is even more superficial compared to previous psychological level.

As a result, being unbalanced due to the disabling influence of combat, cortical-subcortical connections achieve balance, as evidenced by the effectiveness criteria of psychoneurocorrections: the index and power custom frequency range 6-9 Hz (%) at the final and final stage of neurofeedback in the form of alpha-thetaBFB-training using EEG. This range is proposed by the developers of neurofeedback technology and is generally accepted in the context of using alpha-theta-BFB-training using EEG (Egoscope-Reakor-Medicom, Taganrog).

Psychoneurocorrection technology is based on an algorithmic combination of esports elements; diagnostics of the cerebral generator of innate emotional (aggressive/anti-aggressive) personality traits with the calculation of the index of deep-seated aggressiveness; neurofeedback using alpha-theta-feedback training using EEG (Egoscope-Reakor-Medicom, Taganrog).

The psychological direction is based on the identification, analysis and development/psychoprophylaxis/psychocorrection of three components of a person’s psychological portrait of this category.

The personal component seems to be adaptive potential, which reflects the process of the active adaptation towards the conditions of the social environment, taking into account changes in mental and physical status.

This also includes the level and character of intrapersonal conflict, strongly aggravated in people who received injuries as a result of participation in combat. As well as a subjective assessment of self-identity in normative crises of the personality development of an adult.

The behavioral (conative) component contains an assessment of the ways of coping (coping strategies) with difficult life circumstances and the presence of transdiagnostic maladaptive mechanisms of overcoming stress. An important element determining the behavioral activity of a person is a subjective assessment of the quality of life, including in professional activities. For persons with disabilities, an important parameter of self-perception is body image, in particular, causing the greatest discomfort or dissatisfaction, the intensity of which determines the attitude towards suicidal behavior.

The cognitive component criterion assessed by the attentional abilities of the individual, which are the primary condition for effective intellectual activity, and also include the characteristics and the degree of development of social intelligence (O.V. Solovyova) [10].

The goals of implementing the psychological direction are: the activation of adaptive potential and healthy forces of a person; the resolution of intrapersonal conflict; the development of productive coping strategies; the development of the qualities of social intelligence; increasing the subjective quality of life assessment, including body image orientation; the formation of an emotionally mature and conscious ego identity.

The technological aspects of this direction involve the development and implementation of psychodiagnostic and psychoprophylactic/psychocorrectional complexes.

The basis of the professional pedagogical direction is the understanding that most career guidance work, vocational training/education is performed in the context of childhood and adolescence (E.A. Klimov, S.Ya. Batyshev, A.P. Belyaeva, G.A. Bordovsky, N.V. Kuzmina, V.A. Slastenin, etc.).

At the same time, the lack of solutions to the problem of secondary career guidance and retraining for adults remains unchanged. For a person who is forced to leave a previous profession due to disability, pedagogical technologies used for career guidance of young people are often ineffective (V.A. Fordman) [12].

From our point of view, the criteria for pedagogical diagnostics within the professional pedagogical direction are training, learning ability, motivation for labor, the awareness of employment issues.

Depending on the original setting for retraining, different levels of immersion in the profession are possible: mastering techniques of the organization of activities; the acquisition of specific skills and abilities; the formation of attitudes, the value systems associated with the profession, finding meaning in professional activity.

Therefore, it is advisable to distinguish three semantic areas of learning: literacy training (computer, functional, social, etc.); professional education; general cultural education. These areas can be integrated and determine the quality of the result of professional retraining.

Let us note that, for the implementation of professional pedagogical direction, not only the correct selection of content and semantic aspects, methods and learning technologies are important, but also the use of special technical teaching aids or assistive technologies, taking into account the special educational needs of students with disabilities and special educational conditions.

Within the framework of the social-environmental approach, the author's position is based on taking into account the influence of external factors on the personality – the conditions of the environment and social environment and internal factors - anthropological characteristics and individual human capabilities.

The main criteria that allow for the formation of a basis for assessing the degree of dependence and/or influence of social and environmental conditions on the opportunities and success of professional psychological rehabilitation, are external-environmental (specific external conditions that determine objective opportunities for secondary career guidance); social group (social tendencies of a specific microgroup); socio-anthropological (correlation of social status, social roles, social activity).

A wide range of areas of the professional psychological rehabilitation of persons with disabilities of this category requires the readiness of the environment and personnel, the material, technical, educational and methodological support of the educational process in the field of providing psychological assistance, secondary career guidance and retraining.

Today, only educational organizations of higher education have the listed resources. First of all, these are universities on the base of which Resource Educational and Methodological Centers operate for training  persons with disabilities (REMC HE), and partner universities that are translators of network technologies.

Universities are actively creating an accessible environment, career guidance,  work and educational activities, employment assistance are provided, recommendations were developed and introduced for the development of adapted educational programs, adapted educational and methodological support, inclusive culture and communications (N.M. Borozinets, O.D. Salnikova, Yu.V. Prilepko) [2; 3].

The prevailing approaches are the individual approach, the designing individual professional and educational trajectories, support, mentoring and rehabilitation and pedagogical technologies (V.Z. Kantor, D.N. Bespalov, N.M. Borozinets, etc.) [7].

The research and technological bases are developing in universities. Every REMC HE has centers for the collective use of special technical means for training. There are also private examples. For example, a laboratory of professional psychological testing, a typhoaudio laboratory, an inclusive coworking space for professionals and educational initiatives for development entrepreneurial competencies.

Staff and teachers regularly undergo advanced training on issues of working with students with disabilities, from the formation of an inclusive culture to the use of assistive technologies. The curators of internships from among employers also undergo training.

Universities have experience in interdepartmental interaction and social partnership both at the regional and federal levels (N.M. Borozinets and others) [2].

Conclusion

Thus, the development of the concept of professional psychological rehabilitation as part of the designated areas will make it possible to comprehensively solve the problems of persons with disabilities of this category in the process of readaptation to peaceful life, and universities of the Russian Federation, especially those on the basis of which REMC HE operate, are a significant resource base for the implementation of all areas of the system of professional and psychological rehabilitation of persons with disabilities of this category and can act as platforms for the testing of the proposed concept. Approaches towards organizing training for persons with disabilities standardized in the federal network of REMC HE, as well as a friendly environment make it possible to integrate the population under discussion into the educational process, with the condition of the  use of inclusive technologies in relation to processes of secondary education career guidance and retraining for adults with acquired disability.

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