National Rehabilitation and Assistive Technology Services Management Guideline - Ethiopia

Disability is a multidimensional and complex concept that covers impairments, limitations in activity and participation restrictions. Rehabilitation and assistive technology services focus on improving functional limitations and assisting people with disability. It plays an irreplaceable and fundamental role in facilitating the social integration and participation of people with physical, sensory, communicative and cognitive disabilities. Medical rehabilitation centers have been providing rehabilitation and assistive technology services. Multiple factors hindered the medical rehabilitation centers to provide adequate and quality services. One of the major gaps is the lack of a service management guideline which in turn results in an unstandardized provision of the required services. Hence, MOH has developed this rehabilitation and assistive technology services management guideline to solve the gap with this regard. Thus, MOH strongly recommends Regional States, Regional Health Bureaus, Medical Rehabilitation Centers and other stakeholders to adhere to the developed guideline to standardize and strengthen leadership, service delivery, human resource capacity, supply chain & device management, financing, and monitoring & evaluation for rehabilitation and AT services. This will in turn improve the rehabilitation and assistive technology services quality and client satisfaction.