Exploring the scope of community-based rehabilitation in ensuring the holistic development of differently-abled people

Background: Globally, it has been estimated that almost 15% of world’s population live with some form of disability, of which the majority are from developing nations. Objectives: To explore the role of community-based rehabilitation (CBR) in the health sector, identify the prevalent challenges, and to suggest measures to facilitate its smooth implementation in community. Methods: An extensive search of all materials related to the topic was made using library sources including Pubmed, Medline and World Health Organization. Keywords used in the search included community, community-based rehabilitation, disabled, and public health. Results: The notion of community-based rehabilitation (CBR) emerged in 1978 with an aim to improve the accessibility of disabled people to rehabilitation services, especially in developing countries, by ensuring optimal use of locally available resources. CBR programs support people with disabilities by providing health services at their doorsteps, and thus estalish a strong linkage between people with disabilities and the health-care system. Conclusion: CBR encompasses a set of interventions that are implemented for a diverse and complex group of disabled people, and thus necessitates careful planning and systematic execution for ensuring welfare of these vulnerable people.