Welcome to the “Disability and Older People, and Mental Health Welcoming Community Services”!
Through this portal, you can gain access to a wide range of community services in the areas of Mount Lebanon and Beirut that provide services to people with disabilities, those experiencing mental health problems, and older people.
This portal came to the realization as part of the “Strengthening Identification & Referral System through Community-Based Rehabilitation (CBR)” Project, which was implemented from January to October 2023, and was managed by the Institute for Development, Research, Advocacy and Applied Care (IDRAAC), in partnership with Lebanon Financing Facility, the World Bank, and International Rescue Committee (IRC).
This portal can support you in
• Identifying services that are available in Beirut and Mount Lebanon in the fields of health, education, livelihood, social, and empowerment.
• Moving your services to the next level of disability inclusion by aligning them to the criteria and requirements identified in the Community-based rehabilitation as per guidelines available within the portal.
• Connecting to different service providers for better assistance through a dedicated referral form.
Services mapping structure and requirements
Referring to the concept of CBR – more often called today “Community-Based Inclusive Development” (CBID) - launched by the WHO, the project's main goal is to ensure that people with disabilities and older people are getting their needs better met across five areas – health, education, livelihood, social and empowerment. The portal comes as a support to allow more efficient coordination among different actors and offers a dynamic process for continuous updates of available services, with the option to use it as a centralized mechanism for referrals.
It is noted that at the time the portal was created, the number of CBR programs in Lebanon was very limited. We have thus made the choice to use the CBR matrix as a reference for services mapping, disregarding whether they are currently relevant to a CBR program or not.
To be considered as “disability-welcoming” and therefore be enlisted on this portal, service providers respond to two minimum criteria: their premises are accessible to people with disabilities (or offer online services, as an alternative) and they currently welcome people with disabilities and/or older age people.
Vision
Our active hope from the project and its portal is to encourage the community to explore more the opportunities that the CBR strategy offers, in a way that people with disabilities, their families, and local stakeholders partner with civil society stakeholders (NGOs / OPDs / private service providers of all sorts) and with the government, so that “no one is left behind”.
To know more about this project and its framework, you may want to explore one of the following themes:
CBR/CBID
“WHO, ILO and UNESCO view CBR as a strategy that can address the needs of people with disabilities within their communities in all countries.
The strategy continues to promote community leadership and the full participation of people with disabilities and their organizations.
It promotes multi-sectoral collaboration to support community needs and activities, and collaboration between all groups that can contribute to meeting its goals.[1]”
“CBR is a strategy within general community development for the rehabilitation, equalization of opportunities, and social inclusion of all people with disabilities.
CBR is implemented through the combined efforts of people with disabilities themselves, their families, organizations and communities, and the relevant governmental and non-governmental health, education, vocational, social, and other services.[2]”
To explore more the concepts of CBR/CBID and their applications, refer to Community-based rehabilitation: CBR guidelines (who.int)
CBR Matrix
Services covered within this portal refer to the five components of the WHO CBR matrix. “The matrix consists of five key components – health, education, livelihood, social, and empowerment components. Within each component, there are five elements.
The first four components relate to key development sectors, reflecting the multisectoral focus of CBR. The final component relates to the empowerment of people with disabilities, their families, and communities, which is fundamental for ensuring access to each development sector and improving the quality of life and enjoyment of human rights for people with disabilities.
CBR programs are not expected to implement every component and element of the CBR matrix. Instead, the matrix has been designed to allow programs to select options that best meet their local needs, priorities, and resources.
In addition to implementing specific activities for people with disabilities, CBR programs will need to develop partnerships and alliances with other sectors not covered by CBR programs to ensure that people with disabilities and their family members are able to access the benefits of these sectors.[3]”
[1] ILO & WHO position paper 2004
[2] ILO & WHO position paper 2004 – 2.1 – CBR concept
[3] CBR WHO Guidelines – Booklet 1 – P.24
[4] Strengthening Mental Health Promotion. Fact sheet no. 220. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization.
Mental Health
According to WHO’s revised definition of mental health in 2022, “Mental health is a state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realize their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community.”[4] Mental health is an important component in personal, community, and socio-economic development.
Mental health is not only the absence of mental disorders. Having good mental health means we are better able to connect, function, cope and thrive. It is experienced differently from one person to another, with varying degrees of difficulty and distress and potentially very different social and clinical outcomes.
In all countries, mental health conditions are highly prevalent. About one in eight people in the world live with a mental disorder. Depression is one of the leading causes of disability, as stated by WHO. Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death among 15-29-year-olds. People with severe mental health conditions die prematurely – as much as two decades early – due to preventable physical conditions.
Also, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on mental health globally, including job loss and financial instability. Existing mental health conditions and psychosocial disability were associated with higher rates of social isolation and disruptions in their support networks. The pandemic also brought attention to the inadequate state of support and services for mental health in many nations.
The prevalence of mental disorders and the effect of different environmental stressors on people’s mental well-being mandates the importance of helping people access mental health services and benefit from them. Since, according to WHO, disability does include mental health problems, we included a separate area for mental health services under the Community Based Rehabilitation Portal.