The Association for People with Disability (APD) has launched a mobile rehabilitation unit called ‘Rehab on Wheels’ to provide accessible and affordable services to those with disability.
The unit would cover five locations every week — Hebbal, MS Palya, Kothanur, Whitefield and Hoskote. It offers services like physiotherapy, occupational therapy, counselling, and aids and appliance measurement and user training. It also helps people access social security, and gives them referrals to livelihood opportunities, schooling, and medical interventions.
Services are offered at various points like government hospitals and primary health centres, special schools, old age homes, orphanages, and communities.
The charitable trust ABB Foundation had funded the mobile unit. A hydraulic lift makes the vehicle accessible to wheelchair users.
Dr N S Senthil Kumar, CEO at APD, says that the idea came about when people with disabilities found it much harder to access rehabilitation services during the Covid-19 lockdowns. Quality rehabilitation services are generally less accessible as the government primarily focuses on
medical management, he adds.
In the first year, the unit plans to reach out to more than 3,000 people with disabilities, senior citizens, and those with painful conditions. “The pilot project will help us codify requirements and replicate the project in multiple locations where there is a need for rehabilitation,” says Dr Kumar.