[Relatively limited utilization of transportation facilities for handicapped by allochthonous handicapped subjects in...

In order to check whether immigrants and nationals in the Netherlands behave differently in connection with the application for mobile facilities for handicapped people, a retrospective, comparative study was carried out in The Hague and Rotterdam, where more than 20% of the immigrants reside. A total of 600 applicants for mobile facilities in 1986 were selected at random, 300 from Rotterdam and 300 from The Hague; based on the surname of the applicant, the latter was considered to be either an immigrant or a national. Mobile facilities are the most frequently provided facilities. The division between the different nationalities involving the applications was derived from the demographic figures of both cities. Moreover various characteristics of a minor group of immigrant and national applicants for mobile facilities were analysed. In both cities fewer immigrants had applied for a mobile facility than might have been expected on the basis of the demographic figures. To substantiate this, a similar study was made of a file on 1477 clients, who had a mobile facility on loan from the Community Health Service in The Hague. Fewer immigrants than might have been expected on the basis of the demographic figures, had a mobile facility on loan. Immigrants, compared to nationals, are lagging considerably behind with respect to using mobile facilities from the facility package of the General Disablement Act (p less than 0.05). It was noticeable from the characteristics of the applicants and users of mobile facilities, that applications from immigrants for a mobile facility were mostly submitted by an official of a convalescence institute. Applications from immigrants mostly involved young people suffering from neurological disorders. National applicants and users of a mobile facility mostly submitted the application themselves; they had a higher average age and often suffered from neurological disorders or diseases of joints and muscles.