Access to, Use of, and Attitudes Toward Telecommunication Among Rural VR Clients

Abstract

Telecommunication offers rural vocational rehabilitation (VR) clients a method of communicating with their VR counselor between face-to-face visits. Unfortunately, certain telecommunication methods may not be available to many rural VR clients or may pose barriers in the rehabilitation process. This article describes findings from an exploratory survey of 225 rural VR clients recruited from seven VR agencies across the United States. The mail-based survey explored client access to telecommunication, current telecommunication use during the VR process, and client attitudes about using telecommunication to receive VR services. Although 61% of respondents said they had personal access to a computer with Internet and 63% reported that email would be a “very” acceptable or “somewhat” acceptable method of communicating with their counselors, only 39% reported communicating via email with their counselors. Although a variety of factors play into the effectiveness of telecommunication as a VR service delivery mode, email communication might increase the frequency and productivity of VR client and counselor interactions.