The rehabilitation of disabled Native Americans

The Native American population remains a special ethnic group in the United States that is overrepresented at the lower end of the socioeconomic scale, with a suspected greater than average rate of disabling conditions. Utilization of rehabilitation services by adult Native Americans was studied. Three years of Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) data were analyzed to compare the rehabilitation success rate of Native Americans with that of all other population groups. Native Americans were significantly less likely to be rehabilitated than clients from the general population. Factors contributing to the poor rehabilitation of Native Americans were analyzed. Three factors identified as significant were the socioeconomic characteristics of the clients, the type of disabilities presented by the clients, and the inability of the counselors to locate clients and complete the rehabilitation plan. Recommendations for improving the rehabilitation of Native Americans are discussed.