Predictors of successful occupational rehabilitation for persons living with disabilities

Abstract

This research considers the association between social support, education, and socio-economic status, among other variables and successful occupational rehabilitation for persons living with physical disabilities. Current statistics show unemployment rates for persons with physical disabilities to be as high as 65 percent. Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze a national sample of 32,000 subjects randomly drawn from the public use data from the 1993 Rehabilitation Services Administration's (RSA) Case Reports. Results suggest positive associations between marital status, cost of services provided, previous work status, gender and successful occupation rehabilitation. Married rehabilitation clients, female rehabilitation clients, clients who were previously employed, and clients who received more rehabilitation services during the rehabilitation process were more likely to be successfully rehabilitated. The predictor with the highest level of significance was cost of services provides. This result seems to suggest that those rehabilitation clients who received more services during the course of their rehabilitation process appeared to have benefited more than those who received less services, and were significantly more likely to be successfully rehabilitated.