Article

Strengthening of health-related rehabilitation services must start
from the needs of persons with health conditions experiencing disability and
should be implemented within health systems. The implementation of rehabilitation
services in health systems should be planned and realized according to the World
Health Organization's 6 constituents of health systems (i.e. health service
delivery; health workforce; health information systems; essential medicines;
financing; and leadership and governance). The development of recommendations
based on situation analysis and best-available data is crucial. METHODS: In order
to facilitate such data collection at a national level, a checklist and a related
questionnaire (Rehabilitation Service Assessment Tool (RSAT)) were developed and
implemented. The following steps were followed to develop a checklist for
implementation of rehabilitation services: a literature search, drafting,
checking and testing the list, and development of the RSAT. RESULTS: The RSAT
comprises 8 sections derived from 5 main domains of the most important areas of
information (i.e. country profile; health system; disability and rehabilitation;
national policies, laws, and responsibilities; and relevant non-governmental
stakeholders). CONCLUSION: The implementation of RSAT in different missions has
shown that the principles are working well and that RSAT is feasible and helpful.
Further field testing is important and the development of an internationally
agreed tool should be promoted.

Langue : ANGLAIS