General information

Brazil has approximately 17.3 million people with some type of disability, according to the most recent data from the National Health Survey – Base Year 2019 – by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), released in August 2021. With aging of the Brazilian population, the expectation is that more and more people need some type of qualification or rehabilitation through prostheses, orthoses and various health procedures. With the objective of preparing professionals focused on this public, the Santos Dumont Institute (ISD) created the Multiprofessional Residency Program in Health Care for Persons with Disabilities, a pioneer in Brazil.

The Program was approved through the public call of the Ministry of Education, number 001 of October 2017, it is offered by Anita Garibaldi Health Education and Research Center (Anita), in Macaíba (RN). Since October 2016, Anita has been qualified by the Ministry of Health as a Specialized Rehabilitation Center – CER III, in the areas of hearing, physical and intellectual disability. In early August 2021, the Ministry of Health modified qualification for CER IV, including assistance for visual impairments. The change occurred after the publication of Ordinance No. 1,842/2021.

The actions of CER IV ISD are organized in the following clinics: Epilepsy (child and adult); Parkinson's; Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD); Spinal Cord Injury (children and adults); Microcephaly; Hearing Impairment (children and adults); Prematurity and Neurogenic Bladder.

The ISD Residency Program is aimed at professionals in the areas of Physiotherapy, Speech Therapy, Psychology, Occupational Therapy and Social Work, bringing together the areas of teaching, research and extension, strengthening both the Care Network for People with Disabilities in the context of the Unified Health System (SUS), and the National Plan for the Rights of People with Disabilities – New Living Without Limits Plan. 

In addition, the Program contemplates the interface of joint action with the Graduate Program in Neuroengineering at the Edmond and Lily Safra International Institute of Neuroscience (IIN-ELS).