The 33rd John Stanley Coulter memorial lecture. The goals of rehabilitation.

The present system of service provision to people with disability is very complex, fragmented, and costly. The large number of disabilities receiving separate consideration contributes to the complexity and cost. Major costs to society associated with disability are institutional care and income support programs. An action plan is proposed based upon two national goals--reduction in the need for institutional care by 30% and reduction in the level of unemployment among employable disabled people to the national average by 1990. Basic considerations for implementing an action plan are outlined, including the need for morbidity indices to measure progress towards goal attainment.