What is community-based rehabilitation? A view from experience

This paper argues that unless community-based rehabilitation (CBR) programmes acknowledge the complexities of working in diverse communities with their unique cultural, religious, social and economic conditions, they will not be able to meet the needs of service provision for people in developing countries. An examination of some of the main aspects that form the essential components of CBR, the realities of the manner in which they interact, and the way they should interact is presented from experiences of CBR services initiated by the Spastics Society of Eastern India, in West Bengal, India.