ReLAB-HS will initially work in four countries: Burma, Pakistan, Uganda and Ukraine. These countries have been selected because they represent a range of health, human development and equity indicators, burden of disease, and conflict and disaster risks. All countries have experienced or are currently experiencing conflict as well as a complex set of conditions affecting health, healthcare and approaches to rehabilitation. These diverse health system conditions – including different health financing models, overall health system resourcing, adequacy of human resources, and varied progress in integrating rehabilitation into health systems – provide a solid basis for learning.
In each country, our consortium partners have built strong relationships with the ministry of health, academia, service providers, the private sector, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and civil society actors. With support from our local partners, we will engage with four main stakeholder groups: policymakers and national, provincial and district health officers; community health workers; skilled healthcare providers; and people requiring rehabilitation and/or assistive technology (AT). This approach will help ensure that ReLAB-HS activities complement current efforts to strengthen the health system for rehabilitation.
All program activities will be fully aligned with USAID’s Country Development Cooperation Strategies for each country.
Sustainability and scale-up are an integral part of ReLAB-HS’s approach. To this end, successful interventions will be scaled up to other countries and supported by Accelerator Grants.
ReLAB-HS will also partner with collaborators in carefully selected additional countries to highlight and learn from successful innovations to expand access and integration of rehabilitation. We will seek to understand the factors for success and explore the feasibility of adapting those solutions and bringing them to additional contexts. This will help build links beyond our initial focus countries and set the scene for wider impacts of ReLAB-HS.