Client participation in medical rehabilitation for adults with severe disabilities
Sammanfattning
The Social Insurance Institution (SII) of Finland arranges medical rehabilitation for people with
severe disabilities. The rehabilitation process requires collaboration between the client and several
organizations and professionals. The study aimed to find out what kind of experiences persons with
disabilities had on their possibilities of participation in the planning and process of rehabilitation,
and what factors were associated with the degree of their participation in the rehabilitation process.
The study group was chosen using stratified sampling from among rehabilitation clients. The data
were gathered using a questionnaire survey. Over half of the clients reported having participated
actively in the rehabilitation planning and most found that their opinions had been taken into account
at least fairly well during the planning phase. The results indicate that special attention should be
paid to developing client-driven approaches in the rehabilitation system and to supporting the
participation of clients who have difficulties in expressing their needs because of their illness,
disability, or educational and social backgrounds.