Disparities in vocational rehabilitation services and outcomes for Hispanic clients with traumatic brain injury: do they exist?

Objective: Examine disparities in vocational rehabilitation (VR) services for Hispanic clients with traumatic brain injury.

Design: Logistic regression analysis of secondary data.

Participants: Five thousand eight hundred thirty-one European American and Hispanic clients.

Main Outcome Measures: Type of services and employment status.

Results: European Americans were 1.27 times more likely to obtain employment than were Hispanics. Hispanics with work disincentives had lower odds of returning to work and had more unmet basic needs (eg, food, shelter, and transportation) that need to be addressed in the rehabilitation process. Job placement and on-the-job support services were found to significantly improve employment outcomes. However, on-the-job support services were more likely to be provided to European Americans than to Hispanics.