Reform of the system of rehabilitation of people with disabilities in Azerbaijan: a new social model transformation

Abstract

Azerbaijan is in the process of dismantling a system of medical model approaches to rehabilitation of people with disabilities inherited from the Soviet Union, and replacing it with a new approach to services based on social model thinking. This transformational initiative, designed to improve the lives of people with disabilities, is a priority of the EU-Azerbaijan Partnership. In Azerbaijan the voices of disabled people, their families, caregivers and representative organizations have previously been seldom heard. Now their voices will be heard alongside those of policy makers and service providers, in order to make sure that people with disabilities will become the principal architects of systems for their support in Azerbaijan.