Abstract
Introduction
Developing countries have many urgent issues to cope with, such as infectious diseases, and therefore people with disabilities have not had enough opportunities to receive rehabilitation services. A mobile unit as an outreach approach seems to be valuable in countries or areas lacking in adequate health care facilities. In Thailand, there are about 56 thousand people with lower extremity amputations. There are very few workshops and technicians in health care facilities producing prostheses. We studied a working mobile unit to clarify its effectiveness.
Method
We conducted participatory observations of the mobile unit in Chiang Rai, Thailand in October, 2006 run by the Prostheses Foundation, and hearings from the staff and the amputees to collect the information such as outlines of the foundation and the unit, and the number of participants. We collected data on those amputees from the reception note, such as their occupations, causes of amputations, kinds of prostheses, and their experiences of using prostheses.
Results
The mobile unit was a huge scale activity including 75 staff members, who visited the field with all necessary equipments. Fifty-four technicians produced 204 prostheses for 177 amputees in 4 days. Eighty percent of those amputees were unstable in income, such as farmers and those unemployed. Landmines were the cause of amputation for 20 percent of those seen. Thirty percent experienced their prostheses initially, 20 percent of whom had waited for 6 years or more to receive them. Therefore, it was found to be an effective activity to provide prostheses for poor people with amputations in rural areas. Also, technicians in rural areas learnt skills regarding prostheses from specialists in cities.
Conclusions
A mobile unit seems to be effective in Thailand to provide amputees with prostheses, and Prosthetics and Orthotics technicians in rural areas with opportunities for education.
