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REHABILITATION NOTES



NEEDS AND RESOURCES ASSESSMENT BEFORE STARTING
A PROGRAMME



In CBR as well as in extension services, the services are brought closer to the homes of the clients. However, the primary difference between the extension service and CBR is that the former aims at reducing the disability of the client, while the latter reduces the handicap by integrating the client in the community. Thus, institutions and their extension services provide a set of interventions to reduce a person's disability, and exclude those who cannot use them or have no access to them. CBR on the other hand, delivers interventions to introduce change in the disabled individual, his family and the community, according to their requirements to integrate themselves in the community. Even though the interventions from the institutions during the acute stages, and from the extension services later, improve the disabled person's activities of daily life in most instances, he does not find an equal role for himself in his society because of his handicap, unless community interventions are introduced to facilitate his social integration. Hence CBR requires a clear understanding of the community's attitude about disabled people, the priority they ascribe to rehabilitation, the perceived needs of disabled people and their families, and so on, without which the chances of its failure are high. 'Needs assessment' is thus an important step in the planning of CBR, to measure the client's perception of needs in order to establish a sound plan before undertaking a programme.

Components of 'Needs assessment'

WHAT IS THE PROBLEM

  • Types of disability
  • Causes of disability
  • Present practices of intervention
  • Attitudes about disability
  • Economic status of disabled persons and families
  • Educational status of disabled persons and families
  • Health status of disabled persons and families
  • Priority of rehabilitation services for the community
  • Level of participation of disabled persons in the community's activities
  • Access for disabled persons in the other services of the community

WHAT IS THE EXTENT OF THE PROBLEM

  • Prevalence of disability in the area
  • Incidence of disability in the area
  • Levels of severity of disability in the area

WHAT ARE THE NEEDS

  • Needs of disabled persons
  • Needs of families
  • Needs of the community

The 'Mission' of the programme is to activate solutions for the needs of disabled persons, their families and community, using the resources available with the community and those that are made available from other sources. The 'Vision' is the intended ultimate impact as a result of these interventions. The 'Objectives' are the medium term directions of the mission and 'Activities' are quantifiable sets of interventions to achieve the objectives. In order to sustain its activities a programme requires a 'budget', which is an estimate of expenses, and needs to identify 'resources' to carry out the interventions.

Resources are accessible from the community where interventions are planned and from external sources. They can be broadly classified into four types, namely, personnel, finances, material and skills.

SOURCES OF RESOURCES

Personnel
(Management & Intervention)

  • Persons with disabilities
  • Families
  • Community volunteers
  • External volunteers
  • Other services in the community

Finances

  • Persons wtih disabilities
  • Families
  • Community
  • External donors
  • Government

Material

  • Persons with disabilities
  • Families
  • Community
  • External sources

Skills

  • Traditional practices of rehabilitation
  • External skilled persons
  • Academic institutions
  • Community institutions


RECORD TO VERIFY THE RESOURCES

Types of resources available Use for available resources Modifications necessary before use Cost of modification Financial sources for modification Risks attached to the resources
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The needs assessment and resource assessment are carried out during the first stage of planning a CBR, collecting information from the community, and using different methods, including 'participatory rural appraisal'. An important caution is to avoid collecting irrelevant information that is useless for the purpose of decision making. The common problems identified during assessment are collection of too much information, making it difficult to record, measure, process and analyse accurately, too many questions giving rise to respondent fatigue, and difficulty in identification of trends.

BIBLIOGRAPHY ON DISABILITY

This bibliography is available from: Mr. S. John, Library and Documentation Unit, Community Health Cell, 367, Srinivasa Nilaya, Jakkasandra I Main, I Block Koramangala, Bangalore - 560 034, India.

Ph: (080)5531518/5525372; Fax: (080)5533358 (Mark: Attn. CHC) Email: sochara@blr.vsnl.net.in

Maya Thomas and MJ Thomas
J-124, Usha's Apts, 16th Main, 4th Block, Jayanagar,
Bangalore - 560 011, India.
Tel & Fax: 91-80-6633762,
Email: thomasmaya@hotmail.com



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Friday Meeting Transactions
Associate Publication of Asia Pacific Disability Rehabilitation Journal
Vol.1 No.2 1999

Editor:
Dr. Maya Thomas
J-124, Ushas Apts, 16th Main, 4th Block, Jayanagar, Bangalore - 560 011, India
Tel and fax: 91-80-6633762
Email: thomasmaya@hotmail.com

Printed at:
National Printing Press
580, K.R. Garden, Koramangala, Bangalore - 560 095
Tel: 080-5710658