mcguire@wvnrtc.bitnet (George McGuire) (05/31/90)
Index Number: 8538
[Note from Bill McGarry: If it is easier, you can post your
replies or send them to me (l-hcap@vm1.nodak.edu or 141/420 on
Fidonet) and I will forward them to George.]
Dear Handicap Digest or FIDO-Net User:
The Rehabilitation Research and Training Center at West
Virginia University (WV-RRTC) is conducting a study that will
help to identify problems in Social Security's Disability
Income benefits application process.
If you are eighteen years of age or older and have had an
accident that caused head and/or spinal cord injury, and have
applied for and received disability income payments from the
Social Security Administration, the WV-RRTC may be interested in
talking to you, or to a family member who is able to speak on
your behalf.
Your participation in this study would entail reading and
responding to the questions that follow: (1) Via E-mail
(on H-Cap or by sending your response directly by way of Bitnet
to McGuire@WVNRTC);or (2) By calling George McGuire at (304)
293-5314; or (3) By writing your responses in a letter, and
sending it to Dr. G. McGuire, WV RTC, 806 Allen Hall, WVU,
Morgantown, WV 26506; or finally (4) By providing a telephone
number where you may be reached [either sent to the above
mailing address, or to Bitnet].
The primary purpose of this survey is to examine the "human"
costs of the disability determination process. You will note
from the questions listed below that we are most interested in
establishing how the SSDI application process affected you
personally. You may answer as many or as few of the questions
as you choose. In any event your confidentiality will be
maintained in all matters relating to your response. In fact,
you need not even give your name.
Since the WV RTC is not affiliated in any way with any of the
federal or state agencies from which you now receive benefits,
or may receive benefits in the future, no information that you
contribute can be used to affect your benefits or benefit
application. We can neither help, nor hurt you, either directly
or indirectly. But the information you provide may enable us to
recommend changes in benefit application procedures.
If you are interested in participating, or learning more about
this study, please call George McGuire at the WV R&T Center
in Morgantown by dialing 304/ 293-5314.
Thank you for your help.
SSDI QUESTIONS:
(H-Cap Subscribers Please note that these
questions were written for face-to-face interviews)
1. Who was the first person to suggest that you go to social
security for assistance?
2. If no one suggested going to the Social Security
Administration how did you learn about the benefits that were
available to you?
3. What guidance was offered to you for obtaining benefits?
4. Did you know what kinds of information you needed to support
your claim before you went to apply for benefits?
5. Did you have difficulty obtaining the information that was
necessary to support you claim?
6. Did the Disability Determination Specialist report having
difficulty obtaining information which supported your claim?
7. Had you know of any difficulty on the part of the Disability
Determination Specialist, do you think you would have been
able to provide the records or information they had difficulty
obtaining?
8. How long did you wait before contacting social security once
you knew that benefits were available?
9. What kinds of benefits and services did you expect to get?
10.How long did you wait from the time of your initial
application for benefits until you finally received your first
check?
11.Do you feel comfortable talking about personal problems that
you may have experienced during your recovery?
12.Were any of the personal problems you experienced related to
obtaining disability benefits?
13.If you are comfortable discussing them, please tell me about
some of the problems you experienced. I am particularly
interested in financial or emotional problems that may have
been related to your benefit determination.
14.Did an absence of income, or income benefits create
adjustment problems for family members: For example,
was a husband,wife, or child who was not formerly working
forced to seek employment?
15.Were you referred, or did you go to a state or private
rehabilitation counselor for assistance?
16.When did you first meet your vocational rehabilitation
counselor?
17.Do you know if your counselor had ever had a client with a
disability like yours before?
18.What guidance did your counselor offer for getting financial
assistance?
19.Looking back at your experience of applying for benefits,
what do you know now that you wish you had known then?
20.Finally, based on your experience, what advice would you
offer to someone who was applying for benefits today?/
Please be as specific with your suggestions as you can.