How psychiatrists use vocational rehabilitation resources

Little information is available in the literature on the extent to which psychiatrists use vocational rehabilitation resources for their patients and the kind of services they use. A survey of 174 members of a regional psychiatric society on their use of vocational rehabilitation services showed that psychiatrists referred few patients, that younger patients were referred more often than older ones, and that men were more often referred than women. Seriously disturbed patients were more often referred than less seriously ill patients. The state vocational rehabilitation agency was the one most often used by the referring psychiatrists. The authors suggest improvements in psychiatric residency training and the establishment of information programs to increase the use of vocational rehabilitation referrals by psychiatrists.