Analytical Report. Access to Rehabilitation Services for Adults and Children with Disabilities

This analytical report on access to rehabilitation services for adults and children with disabilities was prepared as part of a project implemented by the National Assembly of Persons with Disabilities of Ukraine with the support of the European Disability Forum and CBM.

This report was compiled and written by Oxana Poliakova, Svitlana Petrusha and Larysa Bayda.

The authors are grateful to the study participants for their responses to the survey form, which will inform suggestions on possible solutions to identified issues and further advocacy work.

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The National Assembly of Persons with Disabilities of Ukraine (NAPD) conducted a survey of adults with disabilities, legal representatives of children with disabilities (under 18 years old) and adults with disabilities considered incapable (lacking legal capacity) to explore their experiences related to receiving rehabilitation services, provision with medical devices and assistive rehabilitation devices (ARDs) in Ukraine.

The purpose of the study was to examine the opportunities to exercise the rights guaranteed by law to adults with disabilities and children with disabilities to receive rehabilitation services, to be provided with medical devices and/or assistive rehabilitation devices, and to review related practices and urgent issues.

Under the law, adults with disabilities and children with disabilities are entitled to receive free-of-charge rehabilitation services as set out in the Law of Ukraine on rehabilitation of persons with disabilities.

Further, adults with disabilities and children with disabilities are covered by the Law of Ukraine on rehabilitation in healthcare, which grants all Ukrainian citizens the right to rehabilitative assistance in the healthcare sector.

Rehabilitation interventions are provided at state-owned, municipal and private rehabilitation facilities (centers), and rehabilitative assistance in the healthcare sector is provided at rehabilitation facilities, units and divisions of healthcare facilities regardless of their ownership by rehabilitation professionals and multidisciplinary teams.

Adults and children with disabilities are also entitled to receive free medical devices and other products and/or assistive rehabilitation devices through healthcare authorities; as well as assistive rehabilitation devices, i.e. technical and other rehabilitation devices, through the territorial offices of the Social Protection Fund for Persons with Disabilities.

The study involved 685 respondents of whom 44% were parents of children with disabilities, 42% had a disability themselves, and 14% represented adults lacking legal capacity. Among the respondents, 46.3% were people with mobility problems; 26.0TP3T were people with mental disorders; 25.7TP3T were people with central and peripheral nervous system disorders; and 25.3TP3T were people with intellectual disabilities. The remaining group had hearing and visual disabilities, disorders of internal organs, and cancer diseases.

The largest share of respondents (53%) were from 18 to 64 years old; a third of the survey forms related to children from 7 to 18 years old; 10% of the forms were completed by parents of children under 6; whereas only 3% of the forms were received from people over 65.