Access to P&O education is needed globally for sustainable rehabilitation services, particularly, where there is a striking shortage of P&O professionals. The South and Southeast Asia region is one of the most densely populated and plays a major role in global demographics. The ratio of P&O professionals is drastically lower in this region compared to high-income countries. P&O education programmes often encounter many challenges that hinder their quality and sustainability. These challenges range from awareness, recognition of professionals, missing infrastructure, expensive componentry, lack of trainers, and low faculty/student ratio, to the difficult integration of the P&O workforce and weak professional associations. ICRC has supported the P&O School of the Bangladesh Health Professional Institute created in 2014 and its partner the Center for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed since 2003. It will present its experience at the time of the ICRC phase-out process, sharing lessons learnt and recommendations as an employer, educator and from a funding viewpoint. Exceed’s experience of maintaining international standards of education as a gateway to national/international collaboration rely on diverse funding, maximizing potentials of faculty and resources and supply-chain management. Stakeholder engagement, co-creation, and co-ownership in both South-South and North-South corporations could be encouraged. Mobility India will share key factors and findings influencing the sustainability of P&O education, drawing on its two decades of experience in workforce development for the Global South and providing functional strategies to address challenges and enhance the sustainability and effectiveness of education.
Statement of the objective / learning objectives
The participants will gain understanding of regional experiences, recommendations, and actionable strategies towards access to sustainable quality education and services in less resourced/conflict affected countries aiming for improved rehabilitation outcomes.
