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This report explores three interconnected global trends — a growing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), the rising prevalence of disability, and changing global population demographics (including rapidly ageing populations). The report highlights that there issues were collectively neglected as policy priorities during the era of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It stresses that the unique opportunity to ensure a future framework that fully integrates NCDs, that goals and targets drive progress for all people including persons with disabilities, and that a lifecourse and rights-based approach underpins all goals and targets to ensure no one is left behind

"This policy brief is an introduction to Handicap International’s 2012 policy paper on diabetes and other cardiovascular risk factors. It provides an overview of Handicap International's activities in this sector"
Policy brief 6

"The NCD Alliance aims to put non-communicable diseases (NCDs) on the global agenda to address the NCD-crisis. Improving outcomes in morbidity and mortality by 2015 will clearly depend to a large extent on tackling the burden of NCDs, especially in developing countries"
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The Lancet, Vol 379, Issue 9829

This document presents a learning-from-experience "capitalisation’’ process on Handicap International’s epilepsy project in Rwanda. It includes 4 parts: (1) Principles & Benchmarks which sets the framework including main concepts, definitions and intervention context (2) Intervention methods which detail the main activities monitoring the project and its tools (3) Focus which presents the community-based approach and provides a deeper look into the know-how and good practices developed through this approach (4) Results which provides the limitations and recommendations found during the capitalisation process to different stakeholders
SD/LL 04

Background: Cerebral palsy is a type of non-progressive central nervous system disorder with multiple impairments. As there are sensory, communicatory and intellectual impairments, providing care at home may be stressful and affect to the physical and mental health of the caregivers. This in turn could interfere with rehabilitation of persons with cerebral palsy.

Purpose: This study assesses the mental health status and quality of life of caregivers of persons with disabilities. The study group consisted of caregivers of 23 children with cerebral palsy and intellectual disability.

Method: The needs of the children with disabilities were assessed using a pre- tested interview schedule, while caregivers were administered GHQ-28 and WHO-QOL.

Results: Thirteen (56.52%) of the primary caregivers tested positive for GHQ. The psychological and environmental domains of QOL were found to be most affected, while the physical and social domains were relatively better.

Conclusion: There was a significant (p<0.05) correlation between the GHQ scores and quality of life.

This brief provides a summary of the learning-from-experience process on Handicap International's project "Promoting access to medical care, ensuring the school, social, family and community integration of epileptic people in Rwanda." Strategy and intervention methods are highlighted along with the community-based approach
Brief SD/LL 04

The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions stroke survivors have of the rehabilitation services received by them in the Jordanian community. A secondary aim was to explore the impact of culture on providing appropriate services for stroke survivors.

Eighteen stroke survivors were recruited from an outpatient stroke rehabilitation programme. All 18 participants had been discharged from hospital for between one and six months. Semi-structured interviews were performed, either in thephysiotherapy outpatient clinic where the affected person was attending a clinic or in their homes. Transcription of interviews carried out in Arabic and thematic analysis was also carried out in that language by transcribers who were fluent in Arabic and English, using a back-translation method. Necessary measures were taken to ensure the accuracy, reliability and validity of the data collection and analysis.

Following thematic analysis, themes arising out of the data included physiotherapy and occupational therapy support in the community, out-patient rehabilitation clinic services, community clinic services and support from families, friends and neighbours. Participants expressed satisfaction with their therapists, but there were large areas of unmet rehabilitation need for stroke survivors in the Jordanian community such as a limited availability of occupational therapy services, insufficient amount of therapy services and poor medical support.

This study presents a unique contribution to knowledge relating to the experiences of stroke survivors in a developing country, and also shows how care systems are very dependent on cultural contexts, cultural beliefs and practices.

"This brief discusses the actions urgently needed to ensure that people with impairments due to NCDs have access to treatment and appropriate, timely, affordable, and high quality rehabilitation interventions for all those who need them. These actions are in line with the Proposed Outcomes Document for the Prevention and Control of NCDs, recommendations of the World Report on Disability and the principles and standards of international human rights law, in particular the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities"