“Vivir el paso a paso”: Itinerarios de rehabilitación de la niñez con discapacidad en narrativas de mujeres cuidadoras en la zona poniente de Santiago de Chile

In Chile, childhood rehabilitation is recognized as a right supported by regulatory frameworks. However, its implementation presents limitations that restrict access and continuity of care, and the experiences and strategies of women caregivers who use the system have received limited attention in the design and evaluation of public policies. In this context, this article characterizes the therapeutic rehabilitation pathways of children with disabilities in the western area of Santiago, Chile, from the perspective of their primary caregivers. Between August 2023 and March 2024, drawing on a qualitative methodology with an ethnographic approach, participant-observation accompaniment, recorded in field notes, and semistructured interviews were conducted with 13 women. The findings reveal fragmented trajectories marked by multiple barriers to access, a high burden of family management, and discontinuities in care. Four key moments were identified: suspicion and diagnosis, institutional transitions, development of interventions, and therapeutic discharge. Caregivers sustain care processes through everyday strategies that integrate public, community-based, and private forms of support. Within this framework, the article discusses the limitations of current public policies and reinterprets rehabilitation as a contextualized practice sustained by affective and unequal care networks.