ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the linkages between disability and health, and then discusses how the concept of rehabilitation has evolved in certain years, partly in response to criticisms from disabled people. It discusses the main barriers to the provision of appropriate health and rehabilitation services, in the four key areas of accessibility, affordability, availability and quality. The chapter examines various strategies, designed to address these barriers and supports disabled people to live full, active and healthy lives. It focuses on the concept of community-based rehabilitation (CBR), a term that is widely used to describe strategies that are designed to harness the potential of local communities to support and empower disabled people. Health and rehabilitation services can play a vital role in alleviating poverty, improving quality of life. The rapidly evolving concept of CBR encompasses approaches that attempt to harness the potential of communities to support disabled people and their families to make best use of existing mainstream and specialist services.
