Impact evaluation of a Rehabilitation programme in India

Location Mandya District, Karnataka (India)

Duration 2010 – 2012

Clients AIFO, WHO, MSHF (Japan), FIRAH (France), and DAHV (Germany)

Context

With help from AIFO, the Community-Based Rehabilitation Program (CBR) in Karnataka, India, was started in 1997. CBR programs are considered essential in improving the well-being of persons with disabilities and fostering their participation in the community. Moreover, CBR programs are also thought to be more cost-effective than hospitals or rehabilitation centres.

General objective

The primary objective was to improve the lives of more than 20,000 people with disabilities in the district of Mandya. ARCO conducted a large-scale impact evaluation in order to assess the impact of the CBR approach on the well-being of persons with disabilities and their communities in both the Mandya district and parts of the Ramanagaram district.

Our contribution

ARCO adopted quantitative methods while conducting its impact evaluation. This involved a large-scale survey of persons with disabilities and key stakeholders in both the areas covered by CBR and control areas.

We also used propensity score matching. This involved:

  • Explaining how we created our sample design and our questionnaires
  • Training interviewers and data collectors (2600 persons with disabilities were interviewed in both the project area and the control areas)
  • Data analysis and drawing up the impact evaluation report
  • Disseminating our findings (two papers were published in peer-reviewed journals)

Read more on our Inclusive Development Unit