The role of assistive technology in promoting return to work for people with disabilities: the U.S. and Swedish systems.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to I R Zeitzer.
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In 1985, the Social Security Administration commissioned an 18-month research project to study disability in eight industrialized countries: Austria, Canada, Finland, the Federal Republic of Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The study focused on three key areas: (1) the initial determination of disability, (2) the methods of monitoring disability, and (3) the incentives to return to work. Although the study revealed great variations among the countries in the definition of long-term disability, the approach followed in providing benefits, and the organization and features of the programs, some basic similarities were also found. Among the similarities are: (1) most countries have several income-maintenance programs to protect workers in the event that they are disabled, and (2) the disability test to determine whether a person is eligible for a disability benefit is ambiguous in that the various programs each have different eligibility criteria, different definitions of disability, different considerations given to labor-market conditions, and so forth. This article examines the diversity among the countries and attempts to highlight unique approaches to adjudicating disability, providing linkages to rehabilitation, and creating incentives for returning to work.
In the industrialized countries, there has been much discussion on the short- and long-range financing problems of their social security programs. Prolonged unfavorable economic conditions triggered by the oil price shocks of the 1970's and negative demographic trends have caused many of these countries to adapt their social security programs in an effort to maintain financial stability. System modifications that have occurred abroad over the past 10 years have centered primarily on changes in financing, adjustments for inflation, measures to slow down increases in health care expenditures, and steps to promote the hiring of the unemployed. This article examines some of the significant changes that have taken place in the social security programs of the Western European countries, Australia, Canada, Israel, and Japan since 1971.