Access to Public Healthcare Rehabilitation Services by Persons with Disabilities in South Africa: a Scoping Review

Abstract

aims to ensure universal access to quality healthcare for all South Africans. The aim of this scoping review was to explore barriers and facilitators experienced by persons with disabilities when accessing rehabilitation services in public healthcare facilities in South Africa. For this scoping review, disability was seen as defined in the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), and access was understood to include availability, accessibility, acceptability, and affordability of rehabilitation.Method: Sources were included if they were published between 2012 and 2021, in English, and contained primary research undertaken in South Africa pertaining to accessibility to public healthcare facilities for rehabilitation by persons with disabilities. Following Joanna Briggs Institute guidelines, the search included CINAHL, EBSCOhost, Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, Science Direct, SciELO, and Google Scholar. Rayyan was used to screen sources for eligibility. Ineligible sources were removed, based on titles and abstracts, and the eligibility of remaining sources was confirmed in the full texts review. Although 70 sources were identified and screened, only 19 were found to be eligible for inclusion. Data was extracted on Microsoft Excel and Word templates. Analysis and synthesis were done using Microsoft Excel and Taguette. Results:The findings showed that the most prominent barrier restricting the access of persons with disability to rehabilitation was affordability. Other barriers were availability and acceptability of services. Physical access to rehabilitation