Persons with physical disabilities' experiences of rehabilitation services at Community Health Centres in Cape Town

Background: Rehabilitation is of fundamental importance for the persons with disability to achieve functional independence and have an improved quality of life. To enhance the effectiveness of rehabilitation, it is important to seek clients' perspectives of the rehabilitation services and to incorporate these perspectives into the planning and delivery of rehabilitation services. The aim of this study was to explore the persons with physical disabilities' experiences of the rehabilitation services they received at Community Health Centres (CHCs). Methods: In-depth qualitative interviews were used to collect data. Ten persons with physical disabilities, who had received rehabilitation services at CHCs participated in the in-depth interviews. The interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Results: The clients experienced problems with accessing transport and obtaining information from the service providers. Experiences regarding clients' involvement in the rehabilitation were varied. All the clients reported positive experiences regarding their interaction with service providers and family involvement. Conclusion: The experiences of the participants who accessed CHCs for rehabilitation were positive and negative. The service providers should therefore address the aspects of rehabilitation that were negatively experienced.