Rehabilitation Counselors' Awareness of Client Alcohol Abuse Patterns

Abstract

In this article, we examined the extent of alcohol abuse among several groups of individuals with other disabilities. We then compared our results with rehabilitation counselors estimates of alcohol abuse in the same client groups. One hundred and thirty-four rehabilitation clients were administered the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST) at the time of initial interview to determine their level of alcohol consumption and/or abuse. The results indicated that clients with chronic mental illness and those with limitations resulting from physical trauma have a appreciably higher rate of alcohol abuse than the other identified client groups (those with congenital & developmental disabilities) or the general population. When we asked 40 rehabilitation counselors to estimate probable alcohol abuse rates for these client groups, we found that the counselors slightlyoverestimated alcohol abuse problems among people with congenital and development disabilities, and appreciably underestimated the prevalence of alcohol abuse among clients with physically induced trauma or chronic mentallllness. The results suggest that rehabilitation counselors may lack awareness about this “hidden disability,” within selected client groups, and, the results also imply a need for improved counselor training related to alcohol abuse issues in rehabilitation populations.

Disparities in Vocational Rehabilitation Services and Outcomes for Hispanic Clients With Traumatic Brain Injury

“…Ingraham et al 19 found that rehabilitation counselors in state VR agencies were ill equipped to identify substance abuse problems in their clients with traumatic disabilities. However, only 2.9% of the European American clients and 1.6% of Hispanic clients were identified as having cooccurring AODA problems in FY 2005.…”

Substance Abuse and Disability: Implications for Rehabilitation Counselling Practices

“…However, practitioners in the field have traditionally used slightly higher cut-off scores than those suggested by Selzer. For example, Ingraham et al (1992) suggested that a score of 4-points and lower indicates no problem, a score of 5-7 indicates of a potential problem, and a score of 8 or higher indicates alcoholism. It has been reported that the MAST accurately measures "self-identified" alcohol-dependent people.…”

Teaching Substance Abuse Screening, Assessment, and Brief Intervention to Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors

“…In spite of these opportunities, VRCs do not consistently screen and intervene with clients around issues of substance abuse. 1,2…”