Rural rehabilitation services including rehabilitation workforce in one district of India: A narrative review

Abstract

Background

Rehabilitation is an essential health service. Hence quality rehabilitation services should be accessible to all individuals with rehabilitation need, to ensure universal health coverage. However, rehabilitation remains under-prioritized in most low-middle-income countries; wherein the access to rehabilitation services is further limited in rural areas.

Objective

To review the rehabilitation services at all healthcare levels, including workforce with reference to the need for rehabilitation services in Raigad district(63%rural population) in Maharashtra State of India.

Methods

Present narrative review included studies published in English language from 2009 to 2025 in scientific databases and grey literature including national and state health guidelines, reports and regulatory documents pertinent to the district.

Results

Two scientific papers(level-IV evidence) and seven national health documents were reviewed by 3 reviewers. Complete data on provisioned and operational rehabilitation-workforce in public and private sectors in the district were unavailable. Public rehabilitation services at primary-care were provisioned through national health programs and delivered by medical-officers and grass-root health-workers. At secondary-care,148 rehabilitation workers were provisioned to offer services to total population of 260thousand out of which 63% was rural population. However, it was difficult to arrive at precise workforce ratio specifically for rural population. Tertiary-care services were offered by private-sector and non-government-organisations.

Conclusions

Findings point to an urgent need to create a district-wise registry of rehabilitation-workforce members and augment rehabilitation services including workforce at all healthcare levels in rural areas. Further research is essential to quantify precise rehabilitation need specific to rural areas in order to inform strategic workforce planning for universal rehabilitation coverage.