Replication of a Model for Determining Community-Based Needs of American Indians with Disabilities through Consumer Involvement in Community Planning and Change:

This research study was conducted during the spring and summer of 1991 and utilized 127 face-to-face interviews with American Indians living in the Minneapolis-St.Paul metro area who had disabilitites. Information was collected regarding: 1) health care and human service needs;, 2)access to formal and informal support systems; and 3) barriers to accessing services and employment. Based on the data, many recommendations were made. Some were: 1) non-Indian service providers and educators must widen their knowledge of American Indian culture and traditions; 2) service providers must become knowledgeable regarding the legal rights of American Indians with disabilitites; 3) service providers receiving federal funding must demonstrate active recruitment of American Indian service providers; and 4) communities must work to provide transportation routes linking inner cities to jobs.Also included in the set is an executive summary of Phase I. A follow up study was conducted and written into a final report in 2000.