CHAPTER V - SOCIAL SERVICE & REHABILITATION <<Back
 
 
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AU : Carr DT
TI : Vocational rehabilitation in pulmonary tuberculosis today.
SO : AME REV RESPIR DIS 1958, 78, 647-649.
DT : Per
AB :

To determine whether the patient who has had TB needs training for a better job any more than those who have not had TB, 150 newly diagnosed TB cases at the Mayo Clinic, Minnesota, USA, were analysed. It was found that the ages, gender and occupations of the patients were such that only one, a miner, would need vocational rehabilitation after treatment, although others might be taught skills so as to earn more money afterwards. Finding that this group of 150 patients were not representative of all the tuberculous persons in the US or even in Minnesota, a series of 279 patients admitted to the Mineral Springs Sanatorium in Minnesota, for the first time during five years (1952-1956), were analysed. Of these patients, 152 were males and 127, females. All were 16 years old or more. Eighty-nine of the females were housewives and 8 were maids, 7 were office workers, 5 had retired, and the rest had varied blue-collar occupations. While many of the women might have benefited from vocational rehabilitation to obtain better-paying jobs, rehabilitation was not needed to prevent relapse of the disease in any case. Of the 152 males, 25 were retired and 30 were farmers. Ninety were skilled workers. There were 14 unskilled laborers and 3 whose work exposed them to silica. These last 3 were the only ones in need of vocational rehabilitation, from a medical standpoint. From these results, it was concluded that vocational rehabilitation, which was limited in availability, should be reserved for those physically disabled citizens who actually have medical indications for vocational rehabilitation.

KEYWORDS: REHABILITATION; USA.
 
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