Social workers from the Smolensk and Vitebsk regions discussed issues of rehabilitation for people with disabilities.

A forum on "Topical Issues of Rehabilitation of People with Disabilities" was held for social workers from the Smolensk and Vitebsk regions. The participants reached an agreement on continuing cooperation and implementing a project to create an information and methodological platform.

A forum on "Topical Issues of Rehabilitation of People with Disabilities" was held for social workers from the Smolensk and Vitebsk regions. The participants reached an agreement on continuing cooperation and implementing a project to create an information and methodological platform.

The forum was held within the framework of the Agreement between the Administration of the Smolensk Region and the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technical and Cultural Cooperation. Employees of the Territorial Centres for Social Services for the Population, Day Care Centres for Disabled People of the Vitebsk Region, and employees of rehabilitation centres in Smolensk learned about innovative forms of work in the rehabilitation of children, disabled people, and elderly citizens used in the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation.

Specialists from the Smolensk Region participated remotely. Colleagues from the Gerontology Centre and the Rehabilitation Centre for Children and Adolescents with Disabilities "Vishenki" in Smolensk, and the Territorial Centre for Social Services for the Population of the Polotsk District shared their experience in social adaptation, rehabilitation of people with disabilities, and the implementation of innovative technologies.

Specialists from the "Vishenki" Centre presented a system for working with parents of children with disabilities, as this is a problem affecting all aspects of family life. Parents in such situations often find themselves helpless, and relationships between family members become distorted. The main goals of social workers, psychologists, and educators are to help families in raising a child with a disability, promote their optimal functioning, and mobilise all resources for the rehabilitation process.

Within the framework of the forum, a competition for the best project on topical issues of adaptation, rehabilitation, integration, and deinstitutionalization of people with disabilities was announced. The first participants included Ekaterina Lazovskaya, Director of the Territorial Center for Social Services of the Vitebsk District, who presented the project "Virtual Reality Rehabilitation," as well as third-year students of the Faculty of Social Pedagogy and Psychology of VSU named after P. Masherov: Elena Shmidra, Valentina Kruk, and Olga Zhavnenko, who presented their social projects aimed at the rehabilitation and socialization of people with disabilities. The competition results will be announced at a regional event dedicated to the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

An agreement was reached among the forum participants to continue cooperation and implement a project to create an information and methodological platform. Access to this platform will be provided free of charge to both Russian and Belarusian colleagues.

The performances by children's groups from the Smolensk region and pupils of the Bogushevsk boarding school for children with disabilities with psychophysical development peculiarities left an unforgettable impression on the forum participants.