Community Based Rehabilitation

- Community-based rehabilitation (CBR) is a strategy for general community development that provides rehabilitation, poverty reduction, equalization of opportunities, and social inclusion for all people with disabilities, predominantly using local resources. - CBR aims to meet the needs of person with disability focusing mainly on health, education, livelihood, social integration and empowerment. - The objectives for CBR programs according to the WHO (2003) includes - reducing poverty, promoting community involvement and ownership; developing and strengthening of multisectoral collaboration; involving disabled people’s organizations in their programmes; scaling up their programmes; promoting evidenced-based practice. - The role of CBR programmes is to promote and protect the rights of people with physical and mental health problems, support their recovery and facilitate their participation and inclusion in their families and communities. - CBR also contributes to the prevention of mental health problems and promotes mental health for all community members. - The Raipur Rani experiment in Haryana was an example of CBR programme in India.