Hamad Medical Corporation’s Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) Unit of has helped in integrating many patients with disability into the society. Many Qataris and expats have found jobs here in Qatar and those who have returned to there own country have been able to be reemployed. Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) facilitates the reintegration of people with disabilities into the community by addressing access, education and employment needs with special emphasis on human rights and equal opportunities. “We have rehabilitated 14 people in Qatar with severe disabilities to return to work or find new employment and prepared many for reintegration into their own countries. In addition twenty children and adolescents with disabilities have been supported to commence or continue their education”, said Zvjezdana Zafa, Assistant Coordinator and Occupational Therapist at HMC. CBR team has developed productive working relationships with various corporate organisations in Qatar since it’s inception in 2003. These organisations have provided support to the programme and have been more than willing to provide job opportunities for people with disabilities. Some of the employers who have so generously supported people in this way are GAC Company, The One, State Audit Bureau, Qatar Airways, The Ritz Carlton, Al Jazeera Network, and HMC. “As part of our corporate responsibility we have been supporting the Hostel Assisted Living program at HMC with bicycles, sports equipment and other household items. We were also very happy to employ a young Palestinian girl, who was referred to us by the Community Based Rehabilitation unit at HMC,” said Valerie Hall, Marketing and Public Relations Coordinator at GAC Qatar, a leading Logistics Company. With companies such as GAC pledging to donate more to the Hostel and the CBR programme and to help social reintegration of people with disabilities the CBR Unit at HMC is upbeat about the future of Community Based Rehabilitation in Qatar. “We are planning to further engage the community so we are able to identify the needs of people with various disabilities for community programmes. Our team will undertake continuous exploration of community resources to support reintegration, including education, employment, and social and cultural life” said Judith Don Assistant Executive Director for Rumailah Hospital. Community Based Rehabilitation’s current services for people with disabilities include home assessments, return to work assistance, support to find employment, integration into the education system or skill training programme, community outings to support integration, advocacy, activities of daily living (ADL) and real-life environment activities (IADL). http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&subsection=Qatar+News&month=August2009&file=Local_News2009080621333.xml

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