SHARES
What do you know about rehabilitation centre? Have you ever heard this phrase before? I think that’s seldom people understand what are the main functions of it. In this piece, we have interviewed PEMBINA, a rehabilitation centre in Malaysia to give you a brief explanation on what they are actually doing.
GetDoc: Can you tell us what PEMBINA is?
PEMBINA: PEMBINA is a social enterprise that develops an integrated disabled children and youth rehabilitation and upskilling services to help Malaysians to achieve independent living. PEMBINA aims to provide access to affordable rehabilitation for the Bottom of Pyramid (B40) in Selangor. It is our vision to have our 2nd centre soonest possible.
GetDoc: Why did you start this rehabilitation centre? Can you share with the readers your story behind it?
PEMBINA: It was started back in October 2014 when an NGO named Pertubuhan Kebajikan Warga Kurang Upaya (PEMBINA) appointed one of our director as their economic advisor. We pitched to MagiC and our director was accepted in their 1st Cohort of Social Entreprenuership Accelerator back in July 2015. Fast forward, we are working as a Sdn Bhd company to comply with rules and regulations of running a credible Social Enterprise from best practices we learnt.
GetDoc: Can you tell us the work you are doing in the centre?
PEMBINA: We work with Pusat Pemulihan Dalam Komuniti (PDK) under Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakayt Malaysia (JKM) in Malaysia by providing access to rehab medicine. Our team consists of qualified occupational therapist and physiotherapist with 2 medical doctors specializing in rehabilitation medicine for disabled children and youth.
Instruments of Play Therapy
GetDoc: Sounds interesting, what are therapies you offered in you centre?
PEMBINA: We have a programme called Play Therapy. Play therapy allows children with physical disabilities to discover what they can do and who they are. Play therapy will be using toys and creative arts, a technique that can be readily adapted to accommodate children with physical disabilities. Through Play Therapy, the children are able to stimulate tactile, sensory integration. Play therapy provides opportunities for disabled children to develop their self-confidence, to take advantage of their abilities. After the therapy, they are able to accept and overcome the limitations associated with their disabilities.
GetDoc: Why should parents send their children to PEMBINA centre?
PEMBINA: Our competitive advantage is our competitive price compared to other centre. Being located at the outskirt of Klang Valley, we want to be cost competitive so our services can be subscribed by majority of the community.
GetDoc: What other services do you provide other than play therapy and physiotherapy work?
PEMBINA: Other than play therapy and physiotherapy work, we also have Equestrian services. Often times, people tend to focus on the physical limitations of the children and neglect that they also have emotional needs. We have long term view to be an Equine-Assisted Therapy (EAT) centre to address children with ADD, anxiety, autism, down syndrome.
Equestrain Therapy
Equestrain Service
GetDoc: Can you explain more about this Equestrian services?
PEMBINA: Yes, as horse behaves quite similar like human beings, for example in their social and responsive behaviour, it is always easy for patients to establish connection with the horse. In this therapy, as horses have the ability to respond immediately and give feedback to the rider’s action, the disabled children can learn, react and follow instructions given by therapists. This technique has been proven and developed in the USA and Canada in the 1960. There is evidence that the children will improve their communication skills, develop socialization skills and decrease isolation. We are building our capability by developing our staff with required skills and certification needed.
GetDoc: Any specific disabled children group that you are targeting with this centre?
PEMBINA: Our main market is Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat (JKM) sponsored disabled at PDKs. We are approaching each and every PDK in Selangor introducing our services. We are fine tuning to accommodate their needs without sacrificing the end in mind, which is to achieve independent living. Hence, all the disabled children and youth shall meet our doctors so that their rehabilitation impact is measured precisely and government allocation is well spent.
We are also looking at self-sponsored disabled by either parents or NGO sponsored disabled group. Our rate is competitive compared to other centres.
GetDoc: What is your future plan for this centre?
PEMBINA: We are finalising a course entitle “Teach Malaysia Speech Empowering Facilitator Training”. This program will be handles by a qualified Speech Therapist In our centre. We will divide the program to Basic, Intermediary 1 & Intermediary 2 levels. Moving forward, with the equity participation from impact investor, we do hope we could reach more disabled children and youth beyond Selangor.
You can consult Miss Nadia Natasya Muhammad from PEMBINA if you need any help from PEMBINA REHABILITATION CENTER.
Visit GetDoc website or Download GetDoc app now from Google Play Store or Apple App Store to make appointment with
PEMBINA!
Or you can send in your enquiry to Miss Nadia Natasya Muhammad by filling in the enquiry form below.
by Qian
Qian's interest in healthcare industry came about after her father was diagnosed with bladder cancer. This experience has led her to become a strong believer in empowering individuals to take charge of their own health. View all articles by Qian.
