Social inclusion in the labor market of amputees in the process of rehabilitation

Abstract

Objective: Raise awareness regarding social inclusion into the workforce of amputees, identify socio-economic changes due to the physical rehabilitation process, and promote a dataset of socio-economic data of people with disabilities. Method: This is a retrospective quantitative and qualitative research with a dialectical perspective. Data was collected by Institutional Social Evaluation Protocol of outpatients amputees after discharge of a rehabilitation facility in the city of São Paulo, Brazil, from April to September of 2016. Results: The subjects (n=23) were generally male (n=20), with an average of 39,5 years of age, mostly of which with high-school education (n= 9). Most of the patients (n=23) did not resume labor activity. After amputation, reduction of income was observed. Initially, considering the period of data collection, seventeen subjects were under social security assistance, one subject benefited from another source of assistance, and four of them were handling the bureaucracy to receive such assistance. During the rehabilitation program, there was reduction of social security assistance (from 17 to 15), increase of assistance benefits (n=3), three patients started receiving social security assistance, and one of them was released from the social security assistance list. Conclusion: The results suggest that amputees undergo socio-economic changes after the disability is onset, given the lack of labor activity, income reduction, what demand social security assistance. Characteristics such as age, education and number of hospitalizations favoured the amputees to resume their labor activities.