The Status of Rehabilitation in Iran: Barriers and Facilitators

Objectives: Rehabilitation is one of the basic services for the elderly and people with disabilities throughout life and provides the possibility of equal opportunities and participation of these people in the society. In fact, it is one of the main pillars of the health field, but in the country, more attention is paid to the concept of treatment, and rehabilitation is neglected and does not have a specific place in Iran's health system. The purpose of the present study is to explain the barriers and facilitators of the status of rehabilitation in Iran. Methods & materials: The current qualitative study was of the content analysis methodology that was conducted with the participation of 13 experts in different fields of rehabilitation. Purposive sampling method was used to select participants until the data reached saturation. The data were collected using a semi-structured in-depth individual interview from March 2021 to March 2022 at the participants' workplaces. The interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and overviewed. Then they were analyzed by conventional content analysis method and using constant comparative analysis. Results: Finding obtained during the analysis process were placed in the 2 main categories of barriers and facilitators. The barriers of the status of rehabilitation included 4 sub-categories: multiplicity of rehabilitation services, lack of awareness of officials, lack of attention to the role of the municipality in rehabilitation, and deficiencies in rehabilitation management, and the facilitators included 4 sub-categories of culture-building regarding rehabilitation and disability, improving the insight of officials, the role of rehabilitation specialists and benefiting from the experiences of the world. Conclusion: Improving the status of rehabilitation in the country needs to explore its barriers and facilitators. Identifying them can help officials and policymakers to improve the status of rehabilitation and provide better services to people with disabilities.