This study examines the participation of stakeholders, including disabled people, in disability and community issues in rural areas in Sri Lanka. As a conceptual framework, four dimensions of participation in community-based rehabilitation (CBR) are summarised from previous research. This research was mainly conducted in the model administrative division of the national CBR programme in Anuradhapura district. An action research approach was applied in March 2013, which consisted of eight steps. The study used data from the hearing survey on disabled children under 18 years old (n=103), semi-structured interviews with disabled people (n=20), focus group discussions with participants of community workshops (n=34) and social services officers (n=5) separately, and the authors' field notes, amongst others. Data were analysed with a qualitative procedure, except for quantitative data. Showing the four dimensions of participation in each step, we found promoting participation of various stakeholders improved disabled people's living conditions and enhanced their empowerment. The study also revealed elements that were significant in promoting participation through the action research process: key persons, information and network, utilising existing local resources, dialogue in meetings, and multisectional practice. Finally, we discuss the theoretical implications of this research.

Local resources have been the purview of community-based rehabilitation (CBR) but have received little research and evaluation. This study examines the factors of developing local resources in the CBR programme in rural areas in Sri Lanka. Of all the resources, the study mainly focuses on community workshops. An action research approach based on qualitative methods was applied in the Anuradhapura district as a follow-up to the previous research. Actions include meetings with stakeholders, as well as outreach courses. The study used narrative data from semi-structured interviews with the participants of community workshops (n=24), separate focus group discussion with participants (n=34), and CBR core group officers (n=5), and the author's field notes in social work practice. Data was analyzed within the framework of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT). The results show positive and negative attributes of community workshops in both internal and external aspects. In particular, we find strong support for the strengths of developing local resources in the CBR programme from the perspective of disabled people and local government officers. The result indicates the possibility that local people take full advantage of opportunities to overcome the weaknesses of local resources. Finally, the implications of this research and recommendations for future studies are discussed.