Children with Disability in Nepal: New Hope Through CBR?

Tanja Ingeborg Mol; Wim van Brakel; Merel Schreurs

doi:10.5463/dcid.v25i1.299

Tanja Ingeborg Mol ⁽¹⁾, Wim van Brakel ⁽²⁾, Merel Schreurs ⁽³⁾

(1) Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, Netherlands,

(2) Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, Netherlands,

(3) Karuna Foundation, Netherlands

https://doi.org/10.5463/dcid.v25i1.299

Issue
Vol. 25 No. 1 (2014): Spring 2014

Submitted
September 14, 2020

Published
May 19, 2014

Keywords:

community-based rehabilitation, quality of life, children with a disability, impact

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Abstract

Purpose: This study assesses the impact of a community-based rehabilitation (CBR) programme on the quality of life (QoL) of children with disability and their families.

Methods: A qualitative approach was applied, using two techniques - a ranking line and semi-structured interviews. Nineteen children (ranging from 4 –18 years of age) were interviewed in their homes located in three villages - Chapakhori, Bokraha and Madesha - in Nepal.

Results: Children with disability and their families ranked physical health, psychological health, empowerment and level of independence as the most important factors for their QoL. Of the 19 children, 13 had experienced positive changes in their life and 1 child reported a negative change. The positive changes related mainly to their physical health and functioning. The impact of these changes was felt in the ‘social’, ‘level of independence’ and ‘empowerment’ outcome categories. The children mentioned that they had more friends, experienced less stigma, could go to school and were more hopeful about the future.

Conclusions: This CBR programme has brought about changes in the QoL of all children with disability and their families. The majority of them reported a positive impact.

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Authors

Tanja Ingeborg Mol

Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam

ti.mol@live.nl (Primary Contact)

Wim van Brakel

Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam

Merel Schreurs

Karuna Foundation

Author Biographies

Tanja Ingeborg Mol, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam

Tanja Mol holds a bachelor's degree in Nursing and MSc in Health Sciences with a specialization in 'international public health'. This research was conducted as a master's thesis. She has also worked on an inclusion project for persons with disabilities.

Wim van Brakel, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam

Wim Brakel holds a medical degree from Amsterdam University, an MSc in Epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and a PhD in Neuro-Epidemiology from Utrecht University. Dr. Brakel has worked for 17 years in Nepal and India for international NGOs, specializing in leprosy control, public health, prevention of disabilities, rehabilitation and research. He worked at the Royal Tropic Institute (KIT), Amsterdam, as Senior Adviser Public Health from 2003 to February 2014. While working at KIT, he supported the work of the Netherlands Leprosy Relief (NLR) in a number of leprosy-endemic countries. He joined the VU University Amsterdam in a part-time capacity in 2009 as Assistant Professor for Disability & Development. In February 2014, Dr. Brakel changed over to NLR as Senior Technical Consultant and Research Coordinator. His research interests include epidemiology of leprosy, disability and rehabilitation, social participation, stigma, clinimetrics and peripheral neuropathy in leprosy

Merel Schreurs, Karuna Foundation

The author is affiliated with Karuna Foundation as Policy and M&E advisor. She is an independent consultant and researcher in the field of nutrition, reproductive health, disability and development

1.

Mol TI, van Brakel W, Schreurs M. Children with Disability in Nepal: New Hope Through CBR?. DCIDJ [Internet]. 2014 May 19 [cited 2025 Jun. 3];25(1):5-20. Available from: https://dcidj.uog.edu.et/index.php/up-j-dcbrid/article/view/139

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