Abstract India faces a significant and growing unmet need for rehabilitation services, with a substantial population living with conditions benefiting from it. Community-based rehabilitation (CBR) offers a promising solution by delivering services at the grassroots level, promoting inclusion and empowerment. Complementary to CBR is physical medicine and rehabilitation (PMR), a medical speciality focussed on restoring function. This review examines the landscape of CBR and PMR in India, highlighting policy frameworks, effectiveness and implementation challenges. While India possesses progressive disability legislation like the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016, significant gaps in funding, workforce availability (particularly PMR specialists concentrated in urban areas), technological integration and geographic disparities hinder effective service delivery. Evidence suggests CBR’s positive impact on functional outcomes and social participation, but comprehensive data, especially on PMR integration within CBR, remains limited. The review concludes by emphasising the urgent need for multistakeholder action, including increased investment in PMR workforce and CBR programmes, enhanced technology adoption, policy reforms for insurance coverage and robust research to optimise rehabilitation outcomes and foster a more inclusive society for India’s diverse population with disabilities. Targeted recommendations for policymakers, PMR practitioners, researchers and programme implementers are proposed to address these critical gaps and strengthen the synergy between CBR and PMR in India.
Khanna et al. (Thu,) studied this question.