CONSUMER SATISFACTION WITH A REHABILITATION MOBILE OUTREACH PROGRAM

Accessibility to rehabilitation services is often difficult for people with disabilities who live in rural areas. This study examined consum er satisfaction with a rehabilitation outreach approach that utilizes a mobile clinic to provide consultation services. The descriptive surv ey took place in fifteen rural communities in eastern and northeastern Ontario, Canada. Valid postconsultation mail surveys were completed b y 143 consecutive patients with mixed diagnoses (or proxy family membe rs) who had been seen during mobile clinic visits to their home commun ities (85.1% of patients approached). There were 59 men and 84 women, with an average age of 58.7 years. The main outcome measure was a cons umer satisfaction scale. A high level of global satisfaction was repor ted, with 97.2% of respondents reporting a preference for community ou treach over the alternative of traveling to an urban rehabilitation ce nter. Enhanced accessibility was considered to be the major advantage of the outreach program, but concerns about the continuity of care wer e also expressed. Providing interdisciplinary rehabilitation consultat ion services on an outreach basis is associated with a high level of c onsumer satisfaction. From a consumer perspective, the outreach approa ch seems to be a viable way of addressing some of the rehabilitation n eeds of rural people with disabilities. (C) 1995 by the American Congr ess of Rehabilitation Medicine and the American Academy of Physical Me dicine and Rehabilitation