Sustainable and interdisciplinary rehabilitation services for Persons with severe Disabilities in Binh Dinh and Quang Nam Province (Hold My Hand)
Vietnam has a significant population of people living with disabilities. In Binh Dinh province, there are about 33,000 people with disabilities equivalent to 2.12% of the population, about 63% of those are with severe disabilities. In Quang Nam province alone (estimated population: 1.4 million), over 100,000 people live with disabilities, including 60% classified as persons with severe disabilities.
Vietnam has made significant improvements both in national economic development as well as the provision of services to its people, including people with disabilities and with severe disabilities. While this has led to progress in the provision of financial support, assistive devices and physical therapy services to persons with severe disabilities, significant gaps remain in the quality of rehabilitation services and the comprehensive coordination of interdisciplinary services, particularly for persons with severe disabilities who often require multiple types of support. To address this gap, a sustainable model to provide interdisciplinary services to persons with severe disabilities through strengthened services at district and provincial level and improved referral systems at the sub-national level.
To be sustainable and effective, this model must work in both within the hospital context, but also in the community to support persons with severe disabilities and their caregivers to understand and access available services. The sustainable and interdisciplinary rehabilitation services for Persons with severe Disabilities in Binh Dinh and Quang Nam Province (Hold My Hand) project, implemented by Institution of Population, Health and Development (PHAD) in collaboration with Catholic Relief Services (CRS), will build a sustainable model in Binh Dinh and Quang Nam to support rehabilitation service provision to meet the multi-faceted needs of persons with severe disabilities, especially gender-specific needs and vulnerabilities. This program is funded by USAID for 3 year (2018 – 2021). The HMH project received the government approval in March 2019 and is now full implement in Binh Dinh and Quang Nam.
Main activities of project in 2019
1. Organizing seminars, planning meetings, launching workshop in Binh Dinh and Quang Nam;
2. Organizing Baseline and Needs Assessment in Binh Dinh and Quang Nam
3. Developing the capacity of speech therapy and occupational therapy for health workers in rehabilitation departments in hospitals in Binh Dinh
4. Developing support materials and home-based care
5. Developing videos tutorial on using Disability Information System (DIS)
6. DIS training for provincial staffs: collaboration with the Medical Services Administration – Ministry of Health
7. Surveying rehabilitation equipment for speech therapy, occupational therapy for rehabilitation departments at regional, provincial and district hospitals.
8. Organizing training occupational therapy and speech therapy for health workers in Binh Dinh province
Please see details of activities here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/nvqxmlxiyok877i/Hoat%20dong%20du%20an%20HMH%20-%20E.docx?dl=0