People with Disabilities: The Role of Social Workers for Rehabilitation in Bangladesh

Bangladesh is a low-income country where 49% of its citizens live below the poverty line and earn less than US$1 a day. They also receive inadequate healthcare, education and social security services, suffer from low employment and are highly exposed to natural disasters (World Bank 2015). From an estimate population of 170 million, 17 million (10%) people are living with a disability, and makeup one of the most vulnerable groups in the country (CDD, 2015). There is a lack of public policy and private initiatives to address the disability issue due to the negative stigma associated with disability. Hence, there is insufficient resources and a lack of knowledge of disabilities and understanding the basic needs of the disabled. Social work is the scientific discipline of helping to address these problems and bring about the desired changes at the individual, family, society, organisational and international levels. Since its inception, social work is working with poor, sick, children, homeless, disabled, the elderly and marginalised in society. This chapter discusses relevant intervention strategies and approaches for rehabilitating disabled people within the framework of social work. Social workers can empower the disabled by streamlining resource redistribution to empower them and enhance their living standard.