The physical, psycho-social and vocational effectiveness of a sheltered workshop for brain-damaged war veterans

This two-year investigation of the rehabilitation effectiveness of a sheltered workshop for severely brain-damaged war veterans who had been deemed non-feasible for the Ministry of Defense's usual rehabilitation services, included: (a) a multi-disciplinary staff, (b) adapted jobs, (c) client involvement in workshop management and maintenance, (d) client earnings and (e) social activities. Brain-damaged war veterans from the Tel Aviv area constituted the experimental group. Persons with similar neurological impairment, cognitive, emotional disabilities and social handicaps constituted the control group. In interviews at the beginning and end of the research period, the rehabilitation workshop members and the families expressed a significantly greater increase in satisfaction with a variety of major life activities than did members of the control group and their families. It would appear that sheltered work can increase the brain-damaged persons' satisfaction with major life activities by ameliorating the personal, social and vocational dysfunction that accompanies and aggravates the consequence of brain damage.