The process of social and vocational rehabilitation of people with disabilities in occupational therapy workshops, and the prospects of finding...
The process of social and vocational rehabilitation of people with disabilities in occupational therapy workshops, and the prospects of finding...

Summary/Abstract: The aim of the study is to present the important role of occupational therapy workshops in the process of social and professional rehabilitation of people with disabilities in Poland, and to indicate that the formation of social cooperatives by NGOs, conducting workshops together with district authorities along with the help of active support of local businesses, there is an opportunity for the professional activation of people with disabilities participating in occupational therapy workshops. Occupational therapy workshops are the first link in the vocational rehabilitation of people with disabilities; they were to become, according to the idea of the legislator, the method of introducing the participants on protected or open labor market. Vocational rehabilitation facilities were meant to be a staging post between classes in occupational therapy workshops and work on the open labor market for persons with disabilities in accordance with the Law on employment and vocational rehabilitation of people with disabilities. The potential of the workshops would be better used if there were more vocational rehabilitation facilities founded in Poland. The highest percentage of people with severe disabilities find employment in vocational rehabilitation facilities. They are recruited from occupational therapy workshops. However, a small number of vocational rehabilitation facilities is due to the fact that they do not fulfill hopes pinned on them to create new jobs for the workshops graduates. An innovative solution that allows for the creation of jobs for the participants of occupational therapy workshops are social cooperatives, created by non-governmental organizations leading workshops, together with district authorities and with the help of local business support. This social cooperatives are becoming a new link between occupational therapy workshops and active forms of work for people with disabilities.

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