Rehabilitation from an international perspective
Ingstad, B.; Eide, A.H.
Tidsskrift for den Norske Laegeforening Tidsskrift for Praktisk Medicin Ny Raekke 127(3): 307-308
2007
ISSN/ISBN: 0029-2001 PMID: 17279110 Document Number: 607299
The UN's international year in 1981 for people with disabilities, led to a greater interest in Community-Based Rehabilitation (CBR) in a number of countries. This article describes measures and concepts in rehabilitation introduced by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other parts of the UN. CBR is one of the most important developments in international rehabilitation during the last decades. Other important developments have been the launch of UN "standard rules" concerning basic rights for people with disabilities supervised by a UN special rapporteur, and development of models for classifying and diagnosing disability; i.e. ICIDH (International Classification of Impairment, Disabilities and Handicaps), DALY (Disability Adjusted Life Years) and ICF (International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health). Debates concerning definitions and classifications of rehabilitation have first of all been important for planning and implementation of rehabilitation, but also for preserving the human rights and dignity of people with disabilities.