Frameworks used to evaluate community-based rehabilitation interventions: A scoping review

Community-based rehabilitation (CBR) interventions are important for improving the well-being of people with disabilities. However, there is no universally accepted framework for evaluating these interventions, which limits their effectiveness and integration into policy.

To explore theoretical frameworks used in evaluating CBR interventions, assessing their suitability, context-specific applicability and cultural relevance.

A scoping review methodology was employed to examine the literature. Databases searched included PubMed, CINAHL, EBSCOhost and Web of Science. Broad search terms and keywords used were CBR, analytical and/or methodological and/or theoretical and/or conceptual and/or evaluation framework, impact and evaluation. Only full-text articles written in English and published between 2000 and 2020 were included. Data were analysed using a narrative synthesis method.

No single framework has been widely recognised as the superior or most effective standard for evaluating CBR interventions. Instead, a combination of the CBR matrix and CBR guidelines was frequently used and adapted to be context-specific.

While cultural relevance and context specificity are recognised as essential to the evaluation process - and measuring outcomes at the individual level is viewed as most appropriate - there remains a need for a certain level of standardisation.

The study highlights the need for context-specific and culturally relevant evaluation frameworks for CBR interventions, including appropriate outcome measures and/or evaluation instruments.