Christoph Gutenbrunner, Piotr Tederko, Klemen Grabljevec, Boya Nugraha
Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Coordination Centre for Rehabilitation Research, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, DE-30625 Hannover, Germany: E-mail: gutenbrunner.christoph@mh-hannover.de
DOI: 10.2340/16501977-2294

In order to support the development of a National Disability, Health and Rehabilitation Plan (NDHRP) for Ukraine, a technical consultation was carried out by a Rehabilitation Advisory Team (RAT) of the International Society of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (ISPRM) in 2015. The consultation was based on assessment of the situation of persons with disabilities and the rehabilitation system in Ukraine.
Recommendations for activities and projects to improve rehabilitation services within the healthcare system were developed and proposed. In order to reach consensus on the recommendations, dialogues were held with different stakeholders, including the Ministry of Public Health. The recommendations included: coordination of disability and rehabilitation policies within the Ministry of Public Health and among other involved ministries; translation and adaptation of international definitions of functioning, disability, and assessment tools into Ukrainian; data collection on the epidemiology of disability and the need for rehabilitation; implementation of health-related rehabilitation services; and implementation of international definitions and curricula of rehabilitation professions.
The mission was regarded as successful and one year later a few changes had been adopted by the Ukrainian government. Further action based on this research is necessary. It will be important to track the changes and evaluate the results after an appropriate period of time.

The International Society of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (ISPRM) has performed consultations in Ukraine to develop a National Disability, Health and Rehabilitation Plan (NDHRP). The project was based on the evaluation of the current situation of people with disabilities and the rehabilitation system in Ukraine. Different parties were involved in the consultation process, including the Ministries of Public Health, Social Affairs and Education as well as the Ukrainian Non-Government Organization of persons with disabilities, professional organizations, and others. Site visits were performed in a number of rehabilitation units and other relevant rehabilitation services. The resulting NDHRP includes recommendations and projects to improve rehabilitation services within healthcare systems in the country. These activities were regarded as successful and one year later a number of changes related to improvement rehabilitation service had been adopted by Ukrainian government. It will be important to track the changes and evaluate the results after an appropriate period of time.