Expanding Global Rehabilitation Services through International Academic-Community Partnerships

Area of Science:

• Global Health
• Disability Studies
• Community Health

Background:

• Over one billion people globally live with disabilities, facing significant rehabilitation service gaps in low- and middle-income countries.
• Barriers to rehabilitation access include systemic resource limitations, professional hierarchies, and community-level stigma.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate an academic-community partnership model for overcoming multi-level barriers to disability rehabilitation services.
• To assess the effectiveness of integrating community-based rehabilitation with health professions education.

Main Methods:

• The 'Toward an All-Inclusive Jordan' program combined community-based rehabilitation with prelicensure health professions education.
• A yearlong curriculum involved US graduate students, Jordanian health professions students, and community members in Palestinian refugee camps, focusing on training, research, and advocacy.

Main Results:

• Two program cycles resulted in 14 Jordanian volunteers partnering with 20 US graduate students.
• Over 300 direct rehabilitation sessions were provided, 10 workshops for mothers of children with disabilities were conducted, and 12 community-based rehabilitation workers were trained.

Conclusions:

• Academic-community partnerships can effectively address multi-level barriers to rehabilitation services.
• This model offers a sustainable approach to expanding rehabilitation access for people with disabilities in resource-limited settings.