Vocational rehabilitation services in the United Kingdom

This paper reviews the way in which vocational rehabilitation services have evolved in the United Kingdom during the last 50 years, since the end of the Second World War. The services have changed in many ways since then but their overall structure and the aims set for them are still strongly influenced by the perceived needs of ex-servicemen, as embodied in the 1944 Disabled Persons Act. This Act provided the basis for a Quota Scheme and for the development of rehabilitation and placement services and of sheltered workshops. The paper outlines how each of these have evolved in three decades up until 1980 and then examines in a little more detail how somewhat more radical changes were introduced in the eighties and nineties. It concludes by speculating on how services may change in the future and emphasises the need for the UK to follow the United States in developing more professional approaches in this area and ensuring that rehabilitation staff receive proper training.