Deadline for Expressions of Interest: July 15, 2022
The Joint Learning Network for Universal Health Coverage (JLN) and the Health Systems Strengthening Accelerator (Accelerator) invites Expressions of Interest to participate in a scoping activity to co-develop a concept note for a rehabilitation-focused learning collaborative focused on how to integrate rehabilitation into primary health care (PHC) and promote rehabilitation within Universal Health Coverage (UHC) strategies at the country level.
Topic
Rehabilitation services enable optimal functioning, improve quality of life, increase productivity, and maximize the effectiveness and impact of health interventions. They are essential to ensuring continuity of care and represent one of the core components of UHC. One-third of the world’s population needs rehabilitation at some point over the course of an illness or health condition. This need will only grow due to aging populations, surging non-communicable diseases, and conflict-induced injuries. However, rehabilitation is often under-prioritized in countries’ health systems and UHC strategies, especially in low- and lower-middle-income countries. The World Health Organization’s Rehabilitation 2030: A Call for Action is drawing attention to this gap and advocating for countries to recognize rehabilitation as a key component of UHC alongside promotive, preventive, curative, and palliative care.
With facilitation by the Accelerator, this scoping activity will bring together a group of country representatives in three virtual roundtable discussions to share experiences and challenges with integrating rehabilitation into PHC, with specific focuses on 1) prioritization and planning processes for rehabilitation, 2) workforce capacity for rehabilitation, and 3) rehabilitation data management,
collection, and use. An initial webinar on ‘Rehabilitation and UHC’ in February 2022 revealed significant interest in these three topic areas and the potential for continued knowledge sharing. The goal of this scoping activity will be to develop a concept note for a larger rehabilitation-focused learning collaborative that expands on potential activities and outputs along these three topic areas.
Learning Agenda
- Raise awareness of the importance of rehabilitation as a key component of achieving UHC
- Learn about the importance of integrating rehabilitation services into PHC, including available
guidance - Share countries’ experiences/challenges with integration through an exploration of the following
topics:- prioritization and planning processes for rehabilitation
- workforce capacity for rehabilitation
- rehabilitation data management, collection, and use
- Assess country demand, including prioritizing sub-topics (from the 3 topics above), for a rehabilitation-focused learning collaborative
Level of Effort and Duration
- Actively participate in three 1.5-hour roundtable discussions
- Engage with, and be responsive to, the technical facilitator(s) via email and/or phone
- Contribute to the development of a concept note describing the demand for specified technical
topics and learning activities to be employed in a larger learning collaborative for rehabilitation
and UHC, including providing feedback and suggestions via virtual meetings and emails - Pending country demand for continued learning, establish a country team of up to four (4) representatives to engage in a future learning collaborative
Anticipated Outputs and outcomes
- A concept note describing the demand for specified technical topics and learning activities to be
employed in a larger learning collaborative for rehabilitation and UHC - A brief and/or blog synthesizing the major themes that emerged from the scoping process which
can be broadly disseminated and utilized - Rapid global exchange of evidence, experiences, and innovative approaches to strengthening
rehabilitation in health systems - Identification of new opportunities for Accelerator/JLN cross-country collaborations
Participant Profile
Participation in this scoping activity and accompanying events for joint learning and problem solving will be open to individuals from JLN and non-JLN member countries. Roundtable participants will ideally represent a collection of stakeholders from different perspectives, including decision-makers from ministries involved in health, disability, social affairs, or protection issues alongside practitioners and other key stakeholders. Government officials and health care practitioners should be positioned to share knowledge and experiences about the role of rehabilitation in PHC and the challenges of integrating and implementing new approaches to strengthening rehabilitation in health systems.
How to Submit and Expression of Interest
Individuals should respond with their Expression of Interest through this link with the following:
- Brief description of your specific experiences (if any) with integrating rehabilitation into primary
health care and promoting rehabilitation within UHC strategies that you can share with other
countries, including successes and challenges. - List of rehabilitation topics that are of high relevance to your country’s UHC goals
The technical facilitation team will review all Expressions of Interest and make every effort to
accommodate all interested individuals. Any outputs developed by the scoping activity will be shared
publicly as they become available.
Please respond with your Expression of Interest by July 8, 2022.
