The Right to Habilitation and Rehabilitation

Habilitation

refers to a process aimed at helping people gain certain new skills, abilities, and knowledge.

Rehabilitation

refers to regaining skills, abilities, or knowledge that may have been lost or compromised as a result of acquiring a disability or due to a change in one’s disability or circumstances.

The goals of habilitation and rehabilitation as defined in the CRPD are to “enable persons with disabilities to attain and maintain maximum independence, full physical, mental, social, and vocational ability, and full inclusion and participation in all aspects of life.”

As with any other form of service or treatment, a rights-based approach to habilitation and rehabilitation requires the full participation and consent of persons with disabilities.

Habilitation and rehabilitation include a range of measures – physical, vocational, educational, training-related, and others – necessary to empower persons with disabilities to maximize independence and the ability to participate in society, not simply to achieve physical or mental health.

According to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD):

States shall:

1. Organize, strengthen and extend comprehensive habilitation and rehabilitation services and programs, particularly in the areas of health, employment, education and social services, in such a way that these services and programs:
   1. Begin at the earliest possible stage, and are based on the multidisciplinary assessment of individual needs and strengths;
   2. Support participation and inclusion in the community and all aspects of society, are voluntary, and are available to persons with disabilities as close as possible to their own communities, including in rural areas.

2. Promote the development of initial and continuing training for professionals and staff working in habilitation and rehabilitation services.
3. Promote the availability, knowledge and use of assistive devices and technologies, designed for persons with disabilities, as they relate to habilitation and rehabilitation.

Rehabilitation includes the following range of services:

1. Early detection, diagnosis, and intervention;
2. Medical care and treatment;
3. Social, psychological, and other types of counselling and assistance;
4. Training in self-care activities, including mobility, communication, and daily living skills, with special provisions as needed (for example, for persons with hearing impairment or visual impairment);
5. Provision of technical and mobility aids and other devices;
6. Specialized education services;
7. Vocational rehabilitation services (for example, vocational guidance, vocational training, placement in open or sheltered employment); and
8. Follow-up