Despite Vietnam’s progress in providing a spectrum of support to persons with disabilities (PWDs), a noticeable gap still remains in the availability of interdisciplinary rehabilitation services. To address this, USAID’s Hold My Hand project, implemented by the Institute of Population, Health and Development (a Vietnamese non-profit organization), aims to develop a sustainable and expandable model to improve rehabilitation services and home-based care for persons with severe disabilities in Binh Dinh and Quang Nam provinces. On August 12, the Hold My Hand project held a ceremony to handover speech and occupational therapy equipment valued at $59,800 to four provincial hospitals, six district health centers, and three private educational centers in Binh Dinh province. The event was live streamed so that other stakeholders, including PWDs and other USAID implementing partners, could participate in the event now that in-person contact is restricted due to the recent COVID-19 wave in Vietnam. With the new therapy equipment, service units have improved capacity to provide rehabilitation services, supporting the enhanced quality of life for about 1,400 local persons with disabilities.
So What? USAID and its implementing partners are helping improve interdisciplinary rehabilitation services for persons with severe disabilities in Vietnam by enhancing the capacity of local hospitals, health-care centers, public and private rehabilitation service providers with sufficient equipment and capacity training.
PHAD
