Evidence on Low-cost technologies for neurological rehabilitation in low and middle-income countries

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Background

The prevalence of disabling neurological conditions and the disability adjusted life years experienced by those affected have been exponentially increasing since the past three decades worldwide. Although it is estimated that 1 in 3 people experiencing health conditions could benefit from rehabilitation, the access to neurorehabilitation services is very limited especially in the low and middle-income countries which contributes substantially to this neurological disability burden. There have been several innovations to bridge this gap in accessibility to neurological rehabilitation worldwide. Given the technological advancements in healthcare, much of these neurological rehabilitation innovations in the recent past are driven by technology. Although, several technology-based innovations for neurological rehabilitation is emerging, there is limited knowledge on the effects and impact of such technology-based neurorehabilitation innovations on disability. This Research Topic is aimed to bridge this knowledge gap.


There is paucity of evidence for technology-based neurorehabilitation innovations globally. Existing interventions are mostly prescriptive based on experts' opinion and very few innovations consider service user-involvement in its development and evaluation. Given the COVID-19 pandemic situation, tele-neurorehabilitation has been growing significantly as a primary strategy for service provision globally. Given this approach and advancements, it is important to understand how the technology that synergies neurorehabilitation innovations influence or contribute to treatment effectiveness and outcomes. Given that much of the disability burden is borne by low and middle-income countries, it is essential to understand the evidence base for cost-effective technological innovation in these settings. Systematic development and phased evaluations of technology-based neurorehabilitation interventions could potentially help address the growing burden of neurological disability worldwide. Therefore, this Research Topic enables collection of evidence on development and evaluation of low cost technology-based neurorehabilitation interventions aimed not just at improving clinical or cost effectiveness but also on achieving universal health coverage, sustainable development goals, and disability inclusive development.


The goal of this Research Topic is to bring together a collection of manuscripts that focus on generating and/or evaluating the evidence on low-cost technology-based neurorehabilitation on reducing the neurological disability burden and improving outcomes that pragmatically impact on disability inclusive development especially in low and middle-income countries (LMICs).

We welcome the submission of manuscripts including, but not limited to, the following topics:

1. Development and evaluation of low-cost technology-based neurorehabilitation interventions in LMICs.

2. Impact evaluations and Health Technology assessments in LMICs on this topic.

3. Frameworks for evaluation of effectiveness and impact of low-cost technology on neurological disability and quality of life in LMICs.

4. Challenges and opportunities for integrating and mainstreaming cost effective technology-based neurorehabilitation innovations in LMICs.

Keywords: Neurological rehabilitation, Disability Interventions research, Health, Health Technology, Stroke, Low and middle-income countries

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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