Community-based rehabilitation in the Philippines

Rehabilitation in the Philippines has in the past been based on the Western model, with an emphasis on hospital departments located in the major cities. This approach is inappropriate for the majority of disabled people in the Republic as 70% of the population live in rural areas. A community-based programme was devised using local volunteers who had simple training. These volunteers can identify and support disabled people in their own villages, avoiding long journeys and expensive institutional care.