The current situation of community-based rehabilitation in commune health station of a district in Nghe An province

Community-based rehabilitation (CBR) has been proven effective for people with disabilities (PWDs) and their families, saving medical resources, and is particularly suitable for developing countries1,2. However, in Vietnam, due to the lack of facilities and CBR human resources, the rehabilitation needs of PWDs were not met. Thanh Chuong is a district that has implemented CBR activities at commune health stations for PWDs, in conjunction with the project on victims of the toxic chemical Dioxin. Several duties have been assigned to commune health workers as stated in the CBR program, yet commune health workers were not assigned specifically to do rehabilitation tasks. This study aims to describe the current status of CBR activities at commune health stations, in Thanh Chuong district, Nghe An Province in 2022. The study used a cross-sectional design, mixed methods were employed. The study was conducted from December 2021 to August 2022. Qualitative data are analyzed thematically. Participants were mainly female, about half of them aged 30-49 years old, most of them are nursing, and general medical staff and no staff had a rehabilitation background. The level of performance and confidence in performing the tasks were similar. Among the 8 tasks assigned to the commune health stations, 3 tasks have been performed in 38 communes at different levels including making management records, classifying PWDs, and reporting on transferring PWDs to higher levels. However, these activities are not carried out properly and sufficiently and there was no list of people with disabilities. It is necessary to review the list of CBR activities and have policies to support these activities at the grassroots level, especially to have a health worker in charge of CBR available to fully implement the program's activities, thus helping PWDs integrate into the community, and reducing caring burden or caregivers for PWDs.