This article presents the experience of a rehabilitation program that undertook the challenge to reorganize its services to address accessibility issues and improve service quality. The context in which the reorganization process occurred, along with the relevant literature justifying the need for a new service delivery model, and an historical…

Researchers and policy makers have proposed that quality of life (QOL) is an important and useful way to measure the impact of services, although practical application of QOL in rehabilitation has been limited. In this study, a comprehensive framework (the International Classification of Functioning [ICF]) is used to compare the relationship…

The paper examines the need for improvement in accountability and evaluation in rehabilitation programs for handicapped persons, with an emphasis on formative, or internal evaluation. Three factors significantly related to program management and accountability are explored: a client's need status, staff functions and attitudes, and outcome…

The article discusses theoretical and practical considerations for planning evaluation of postemployment training of handicapped professionals who are undergoing rehabilitation. (Author)

This paper discusses the need to internationalize evaluation measures; unify criteria for rehabilitation scales; and refine the definitions of impairment, disability, and handicap. A model based on the International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities and Handicap (ICIDH) scales is presented, depicting the components of somatogenesis,…

Data on people with disabilities can be used to confirm service needs and to evaluate the resulting impact of services. Disability statistics from surveys and administrative records can play a meaningful role in such efforts. In this article, the authors describe the array of available data and statistics and their potential uses in rehabilitation…

Programs in Michigan, North Carolina, and Oklahoma, under the Vocational Rehabilitation Act were reviewed by the General Accounting Office to determine the ability of the programs to meet the needs of all handicapped persons and their effectiveness in helping individual handicapped persons. Under the act, before vocational rehabilitation services…

This article contrasts the traditional relationships between researchers and subjects in traditional rehabilitation evaluation and research with relationships between researchers and clients-consumers in new methodologies. Collaborative research, characterized by shared power and non-hierarchical authority between client-consumers and researchers…

THE PURPOSE OF THE PROJECT WAS TO APPLY CURRENT KNOWLEDGE, METHODS, AND TECHNIQUES IN INDUSTRIAL DESIGN AND PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT TO REHABILITATING THE HANDICAPPED BY USING THE LABOR FORCE AVAILABLE IN SHELTERED WORKSHOPS AND HOMEBOUND PROGRAMS. DEMONSTRATION PROGRAMS WERE ESTABLISHED AS TASK FORCES IN CHICAGO, NEW YORK, AND LOS ANGELES WITH THE…

This paper examines the magnitude of the problem of disability facing developing countries; the traditional response to this challenge and its ineffectiveness; the emergence of community-based rehabilitation (CBR); its underlying assumptions and effectiveness in terms of staff training, interagency partnerships, and parental and community…

Developed to be a standard reference guide, this glossary contains terms generally associated with program evaluation and terms specifically employed in rehabilitation program evaluation. Target audiences include rehabilitation program evaluation personnel and the consumers of evaluation information such as program administrators, counselors, and…

Discusses several major habilitative implications of normalization principles with particular reference to the socio-sexual development of persons with disabling and other deviancy-producing conditions; presents preliminary findings on the success of fostering normative socio-sexual behavior in rehabilitation clients; and suggests ways in which…

A project to demonstrate and evaluate some innovative programs utilizing volunteers in work with the handicapped and to provide data on the success of present programs is discussed. As part of the project, four pilot projects were undertaken to determine the feasibility and utility of certain approaches and to develop model training courses that…

This booklet gathers and discusses best practices for supported employment in rehabilitative facilities. The first chapter reviews the need to identify best practices and examines such issues as jobs, integration, and quality of life. The second chapter describes eight programs chosen as exemplary, providing data on program goals, average wage and…

Oriented to rehabilitation facilities that are interested in maintaining and expanding their markets, this pamphlet presents publication excerpts that provide an understanding of the impact of organizational quality. The excerpts emphasize development of quality products and services through motivation of staff, effective communication, use of…