CGFNS International, a worldwide leader in international credentials evaluation and certification to support health worker careers, has been inducted into the World Rehabilitation Alliance (WRA).
The WRA is the World Health Organization’s global network of stakeholders whose mission is to advocate for the implementation of WHO’s Rehabilitation 2030 initiative, which aims to improve rehabilitation management and investment, build a high-quality rehabilitation workforce and services, and enhance data collection on rehabilitation.
“We are delighted to receive this recognition of our extensive work in developing practical solutions to improve rehabilitation care for the more than 2.4 billion people around the world who need it,” said Dr. Peter Preziosi, President and CEO of CGFNS. “We are also determined to further dedicate ourselves to advancing the WRA’s impact in promoting and strengthening health systems worldwide through better and more accessible rehabilitation services.”
Preziosi noted that one of the key calls to action of the WRA is for “developing a strong multidisciplinary rehabilitation workforce that is suitable for country context and promoting rehabilitation concepts across all health workforce education.”
“We believe we have a great deal of knowledge and experience to contribute to advancing critical workforce initiatives in the global rehab community, especially toward achieving the WHO goal of integrating rehab care more firmly into primary healthcare across local settings,” said Dr. Julia To Dutka, Chief of the CGFNS Global Health Workforce Development Institute. “Providing global certifications to recognize knowledge and skills of health workers will help facilitate this integration.”
To that end, for the past five years, CGFNS has been leading a collaboration of key stakeholders to develop exam-based global certifications for nurses and other health workers in rehabilitation settings worldwide. That effort has produced the first-ever global credential for registered nurses working in rehabilitation, habilitation, or restorative care —the Certified Global Nurse – Rehabilitation (CGN-R), which was launched last month.
The organization is also developing credentials for other rehabilitation health workers, including physical and occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, and rehab technicians, using an interprofessional and interdisciplinary approach. These global credentials, Certified Global Health Worker – Rehabilitation (CGHW-R) and Certified Global Health Worker – Rehabilitation Advanced (CGHW-RA), will be available in 2025.
As a newly appointed member of the WRA, CGFNS will participate in four of its workstreams: Workforce, Primary Care, Research, and Emergencies.
About CGFNS International, Inc.
Founded in 1977 and based in Philadelphia, CGFNS International is an immigration-neutral not-for-profit organization proudly serving as the world’s largest credentials evaluation organization for the nursing and allied health professions. CGFNS International is an NGO in Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and is a member of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CoNGO).