NEEDS AND UNMET NEEDS - A WHO report on Disability-2011

The first ever World report on disability, produced jointly by WHO and the World Bank describes needs and unmet needs in rehabilitation. Unmet rehabilitation needs can delay dis­charge, limit activities, restrict participation, cause deterioration in health, increase depend­ency on others for assistance, and decrease quality of life. These negative out­comes can have broad social and financial implications for individuals, families, and communities. But many developing countries still do not have edu­cational programmes for rehabilitation profes­sionals. 

According to the 2005 global survey of 114 countries, 37 had not taken action to train rehabilitation personnel and 56 had not updated medical knowledge of health-care pro­viders on disability.University training for rehabilitation personnel may not be feasible in all develop­ing countries because of the academic expertise required, the time and expense, and the ability of national governments and NGOs to sustain the training. Primary health-care workers can target for broad rehabilitation training. In the absence of rehabilitation specialists, health staff with appropriate training can help meet service shortages or supplement services. 

Training programmes for health-care professionals should be user-driven, need-based, and relevant to the roles of the professionals. Given the global lack of rehabilitation pro­fessionals, mixed or graded levels of training may be required to increase the provision of essential rehabilitation services. Where graded training is used, consideration should be given to career development and continuing educa­tion opportunities between levels.

Read more: http://www.who.int/disabilities/world_report/2011/en/index.html

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