Coordination of health and rehabilitation services for person with disabilities in Sierra Leone - a stakeholders' perspective

Purpose To explore stakeholders' perceptions of the coordination of health and rehabilitation services for persons with disabilities in Sierra Leone. Materials and methods A qualitative study including seven focus group discussions with health, rehabilitation, and disability organisations stakeholders in Sierra Leone. Content analysis was used for data analysis. Results One theme emerged; poor governance in implementing disability policies, healthcare, and rehabilitation services, which included seven subthemes: insufficient implementation of healthcare policies for persons with disabilities; changes, lack of coordination and communication between ministries governing disability policies and rehabilitation services; need for accurate disability data and clinical record keeping; absence of funds and poor political priority to healthcare and rehabilitation services; continuous support for non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to provide healthcare and rehabilitation service delivery; lack of coordination between different healthcare and rehabilitation service providers and calling for increasing persons with disabilities capacity for greater inclusion in society. Conclusions Increasing governmental prioritisation, and ensuring coordination and trust between donors, NGOs, and governmental programmes were keys for sustainable health and rehabilitation services. Stakeholders need to ensure national coverage and equally distributed health and rehabilitation services. Including rehabilitation services and assistive technology in the Free Healthcare Initiative would contribute to implementing the Disability Act.