Family Participation in the Rehabilitation Process: The Rehabilitators' Perspective

The purpose of this study was to investigate rehabilitators' beliefs concerning the family in rehabilitation and to measure perceptions of family participation in typical inpatient rehabilitation situations. The investigator‐developed Family in Rehabilitation Inventory was administered to a convenience sample of 198 health professionals drawn from three rehabilitation hospitals. Results showed that respondents believed families who participate in the rehabilitation process are better able to cope with disability, and that families with whom they worked in the six months prior to the study were afforded every opportunity to participate in the rehabilitation process. Yet the findings also revealed that, in contrast to what is generally advocated in rehabilitation literature, the respondents believed in a directive model in which the family defers to the wishes of the rehabilitators. 1987 Association of Rehabilitation Nurses