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Disability Data Collection in Community-based Rehabilitation

Sunil Deepak
Francesca Ortali
Geraldine Mason Halls
Tulgamaa Damdinsuren
Enhbuyant Lhagvajav
Steven Msowoya
Malek Qutteina
Jayanth Kumar
December 2016

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Today there are Community-based Rehabilitation (CBR) programmes in a large number of countries. In many countries, the CBR approach is a part of the national rehabilitation services. However, there is a lack of reliable data about persons with disabilities who benefit from CBR and the kind of benefits they receive.

 

This article reviews the disability data collection systems and presents some case studies to understand the influence of operational factors on data collection in the CBR programmes.

 

The review shows that most CBR programmes use a variable number of broad functional categories to collect information about persons with disabilities, combined occasionally with more specific diagnostic categories. This categorisation is influenced by local contexts and operational factors, including the limitations of human and material resources available for its implementation, making it difficult to have comparable CBR data.

 

Therefore, any strategies to strengthen the data collection in CBR programmes must take these operational factors into account.

 

Children with Disability in Nepal: New Hope Through CBR?

MOL, Tanja Ingeborg
BRAKEL, Wim Van
SCHREURS, Merel
2014

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Purpose: This study assesses the impact of a community-based rehabilitation (CBR) programme on the quality of life (QoL) of children with disability and their families.

 

Methods: A qualitative approach was applied, using two techniques - a ranking line and semi-structured interviews. Nineteen children (ranging from 4 –18 years of age) were interviewed in their homes located in three villages - Chapakhori, Bokraha and Madesha - in Nepal.

 

Results: Children with disability and their families ranked physical health, psychological health, empowerment and level of independence as the most important factors for their QoL. Of the 19 children, 13 had experienced positive changes in their life and 1 child reported a negative change. The positive changes related mainly to their physical health and functioning. The impact of these changes was felt in the ‘social’, ‘level of independence’ and ‘empowerment’ outcome categories. The children mentioned that they had more friends, experienced less stigma, could go to school and were more hopeful about the future.

 

Conclusions: This CBR programme has brought about changes in the QoL of all children with disability and their families. The majority of them reported a positive impact.

 

 

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