Abstract

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Background: Despite the high burden of childhood disability in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs), the opportunity for early intervention and rehabilitation is very limited. Studies have found that community-based rehabilitation service is effective for children with cerebral palsy (CP); however, such services are not readily available in LMICs, and services run by non-profit organisations on external funding are often not sustainable. In this study, we report the lesson learnt in establishing a social business model of early intervention and rehabilitation services for children with CP and adults with disabilities in a rural subdistrict of Bangladesh. Methods: Case study of a rural early intervention and rehabilitation centre (i.e., the model centre) implemented between May 2018 and September 2019. An economic evaluation incorporating gross margin analysis along with descriptive statistics was performed to assess the social business potentials of the model centre. Results: The establishment of this model centre cost ~5955 USD with an average monthly running cost of ~994 USD. During the 17 months study period, 7038 therapy sessions (average eight sessions per patient) were offered to 862 patients with musculoskeletal and neurological disorders. The most common clinical presentations were low back pain (35.6%; n = 307). Six percent (n = 52) of the attendees were children with CP (mean (SD) age 6.3 (4.0) years; 35.7% (n = 19) were female), who received 1392 sessions, on average 27 sessions per child. The centre reached the break-even point at the 13th month and remained profitable for the next 4 months of the study period. An average session fee of 2.2 USD resulted in a gross margin of -1458 USD and 1940 USD in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Revenue to cost ratios for the 2 years were 0.27:1 and 0.51:1 while average rates of return were −41.4% and 10.1%, respectively. Sensitivity analysis revealed that session numbers including 5000, 6000, 7000, 8000, 9000, and 10,000 were required to break even at the session fees of 3.0, 2.50, 2.0, 2.0, 1.5, and 1.5 USD, respectively. Conclusion: Our social business model of an early intervention and rehabilitation service provides evidence of enhancing access to services for children with CP as well as adults with disabilities while ensuring the sustainability of the services in rural Bangladesh.