THE NEED AND PRIORITIES OF THE PROVISION OF SOCIAL REHABILITATION SERVICES FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES IN THE TERRITORIAL COMMUNITY

Abstract

The article focuses on the problem of development of rehabilitation services for children with disabilities and their families. The relevance of the problem is determined, taking into account strategic regulatory and legal guidelines. The purpose of the study: to analyze the need and priority of providing social rehabilitation services to children with disabilities and their families at the level of the territorial community in modern conditions. The article presents the results of an expert interview with specialists from the Lviv, Ternopil, and Cherkasy regions. Despite positive developments in the development of rehabilitation services for children with disabilities, a number of problems have been identified. Among the challenges: a low level of intersectoral and interdisciplinary interaction in the process of informing the population about rehabilitation services, lack of mapping of such services. According to experts, children with musculoskeletal disorders, cerebral palsy, children with vision and hearing impairments, Down syndrome, various disorders of the autistic spectrum, and intellectual disabilities are most in need of rehabilitation services. Specialists are aware of the essence and importance of social rehabilitation services. It has been established that at the level of the territorial community there is an acute need for such services as: early intervention service, supported accommodation service, transport services, social and household orientation service, support during inclusive education, day care service, sign language translation, personal assistant service. Early intervention and day care services should be prioritized for implementation; among other priority services are supported accommodation, transport services, support during inclusive education and social and household guidance.