Gaza CBR Supporting Children with Disabilities
Specialised and community based rehabilitation services for children with serious injuries and disabilities in Gaza
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The Gaza Community-Based Rehabilitation (CBR) Programme supports children with disabilities who are unable to access the health services they need. Without these services their health and mobility would deteriorate, they would drop out of school and become isolated from their friends, family and the local community.
The Gaza CBR Programme includes:
- medical / nursing services
- physiotherapy, occupational therapy
- psychosocial support and family counselling sessions to provide support and raise family awareness on issues related to disability
- provision of disability aids (e.g. walking frames, wheelchairs, shower chairs)
- provision of medications and high-nutrient milk to improve health
- adaptation of homes (e.g. ramps, handrails, bathroom)
- school liaison and school adaptations (ramps, handrails, toilets)
Individual care plans are developed for each child to increase their health, mobility, independence and quality of life to the maximum extent possible.
Facts
Over the past few years, we have been able to support over 2,400 children with physical and mental disabilities, providing them with rehabilitation services and facilitating their inclusion into schools and the local community.
In our well established Gaza CBR programme, working with local partners National Society for Rehabilitation and Palestine Medical Relief Society, we have supported 2,410 children with a range of specialised and community based rehabilitation services including over 13,440 physiotherapy and occupational therapy sessions. Through these sessions, children learnt basic exercise routines to better manage daily life activities. A range of specialized assistive devices such as wheelchairs, elbow crutches, and walking frames were distributed to children to improve their mobility and overall independence. Throughout our programme, we continue to deliver medical follow up sessions, providing children with medical kits, and essential medications for the treatment of wounds, ulcers and infections.
To increase their knowledge on issues surrounding rehabilitation, mothers and community members attended awareness sessions where they received training on first aid management and given advice on the importance of a healthy diet for children with disabilities. Parents were also trained on how to maintain the daily exercise routines in order to improve their child’s independence. There was a significant improvement noted in the mother’s knowledge on rehabilitation issues; after the activities parents expressed how happy they were to have learnt new techniques in providing better care for children.
Number of beneficiaries supported with the following services:
| Rehabilitation Services and Awareness Sessions | Number of beneficiaries |
|---|---|
| Physiotherapy sessions | 716 |
| Occupational therapy sessions | 364 |
| Activities of daily living sessions | 153 |
| Provision of assistive devices | 511 |
| Psycho-social sessions | 358 |
| Mothers awareness sessions | 689 |
| Community awareness sessions | 1509 |
| Medical follow up services, and provision of medical kits | 106 |
Our latest project : Emergency Community Based Rehabilitation Services for Children with Serious Injuries and Disabilities
This year-long project improved the health, mobility and living conditions of children with disabilities (CwD) in Gaza and increased their inclusion in the community. The project reached out to 1,297 children (297 more than originally planned) with a wide range of services:
- Rehabilitation services were delivered to 1,297 children in 24,698 sessions, including physiotherapy, occupational therapy, activities of daily living and nursing sessions.
- 3,986 psychosocial support sessions were provided for 205 children.
- 490 CwD were provided with medications, vitamins and enriched milk to improve their nutritional intake.
- 40 homes were adapted for the use of CwD, with alterations to improve the accessibility and movement needs of CwD within their homes, and access to and from their homes including: installing hand rails at entranceways and in bathrooms; improving hygiene and sanitation with tiling and shower set installation, and adaptations/widening of entranceways to improve accessibility.
- 409 assistive devices were distributed to 358 children to help increase their mobility and inclusion within their local community. Devices included: wheelchairs, crutches and wheeled walkers.
- 15 therapeutic and recreational open days were arranged and attended by 2,019 CwD and members of their families. The open days gave the children an opportunity to relax, boost their morale and increase their interaction with other children and their caregivers.
- 120 local community awareness-raising sessions were attended by 3,265 people. This includes: 60 community awareness-raising sessions attended by 1,754 people and 60 mothers’ and families’ awareness-raising sessions attended by 1,511 people. The sessions addressed issues such as: the concept of disability, different types and causes; rehabilitation steps and processes; importance of healthy nutrition; basic home exercise routines; behavioural issues and how to support them appropriately and the importance of education.
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