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Disability data collection: A summary review of the use of the Washington Group Questions by development and humanitarian actors

QUIGLEY, Nolan
et al
October 2018

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The Washington Group Questions on Disability are rapidly emerging as the preferred data collection methodology by the global community for national data collection efforts on disability. However, more and more development and humanitarian actors are now using the methodology in their own data collection efforts. This is beyond the original purpose of the questions, which was to generate usable data for governments. Leonard Cheshire and Humanity & Inclusion, two international charities focussed on disability and inclusion, have worked together to share learnings of recent research studies. These studies aim to understand how the Washington Group Questions (WGQ) have been used by development and humanitarian actors and the impact of using the methodology. This summary report outlines the key findings, analysis and conclusions about the application of the Washington Group Questions in a range of contexts. The report concludes with a number of recommendations for different stakeholders.

Disability disaggregation of data : baseline report

JOLLEY, Emma
THIVILLIER, Pauline
SMITH, Fred
December 2014

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“This baseline report contains information on the initial steps (prior to the start of data collection) undertaken to include disaggregation of data by disability in two projects in Tanzania and India. The report includes information on project selection, development of an Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) plan, adaptation of data collection tools and training of Country Office staff, partners and data collectors. This baseline also captures the knowledge, attitudes and practices of programme managers, decision makers and data collectors around disability, the availability of data, and the experiences of Sightsavers’ implementing staff”

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Learning from doing the EquitAble project: Content, context, process, and impact of a multi-country research project on vulnerable populations in Africa

MACLACHLAN, Mac
AMIN, Mutamad
MJI, Gubela
MANNAN, Hasheem
MCVEIGH, Joanne
MCAULIFFE, Eilish
AMADHILA, Elina
MUNTHALI, Alister
EIDE, Arne H
DUBE, A Kudakwashe
2014

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Background: The ‘EquitAble’ project carried out content analyses of policies and collected and analysed qualitative and quantitative data concerning access to health services in Sudan, Malawi, Namibia and South Africa. Our particular concern was to address the situation of people with disabilities, although not in isolation from other marginalised or vulnerable groups.

 

Objectives: This article reports on the content, context, process and impact of project EquitAble, funded by the European Commission Seventh Research Framework Programme, which brought together researchers from Ireland, Norway, South Africa, Namibia, Sudan and Malawi.

 

Method: After the 4-year project ended in February 2013, all members of the consortium were asked to anonymously complete a bespoke questionnaire designed by the coordinating team. The purpose of the questionnaire was to capture the views of those who collaborated on the research project in relation to issues of content, context, process and impact of the EquitAble project.

 

Results: Our results indicated some of the successes and challenges encountered by our consortium.

 

Conclusion: We identified contextual and process learning points, factors often not discussed in papers, which typically focus on the reporting of the ‘content’ of results.

Violence Against Persons with Disabilities in Bidar District, India

DEEPAK, S
KUMAR, J
SANTOSH, B
GORNALLI, S
MANIKAPPA, P
VYJANTHA, U
GIRIYAPPA, R
2014

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Violence and sexual violence against persons with disabilities at community level are serious issues. Though CBR programmes and DPOs are expected to prevent violence and offer support to the victims, there is very little informationabout their role in this regard.

 

Purpose: This research aimed to assess the level of violence and sexual violence experienced by DPO members, and the role played by CBR programmes in preventing it.

 

Method: The study involved a non-random consecutive sample of 146 persons with disabilities from 3 sub-districts of Bidar district in Karnataka, India. Using a structured questionnaire, interviews were conducted by a group of trained DPO members and CBR workers, many of whom had personal experience of violence. The data was entered using Epi-Info and then converted into spreadsheet Tables for analysis.

 

Results: 58% of the sample reported having experienced violence and 14% reported experiences of sexual violence during the previous 12 months. Girls and women reported higher levels of violence at different age groups. Male children and young adults reported having experienced more violence, including sexual violence, than older men. The research did not provide conclusive evidence that participation in the CBR and DPO activities played a protective role.

 

Conclusions: Violence and sexual violence against persons with disabilities are serious problems. More research on the subject, in terms of roles of CBR programmes and DPOs, is needed.

Empowerment in Community-based Rehabilitation and Disability-inclusive Development

KUIPERS, P
2014

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Purpose: This paper seeks to contribute to discussion on the understanding and measurement of empowerment of people with disabilities in developing countries. A novel, text analysis approach was used to depict the way in which empowerment is characterised in conventional measures in Western settings. This was then compared with depictions and analyses of the way in which empowerment is characterised in documents that have more relevance to developing countries.

 

Method: First, computer-based content and concept analysis was applied to three key empowerment measures. This was compared with analysis of responses to a recent online survey of empowerment conducted by the United NationsDepartment of Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA). Visual representations in the form of “word clouds” were generated to depict key concepts within each data source. Second, to provide specific detail regarding how empowerment has been described in documents which relate to developing countries, more detailed computer-assisted lexical analysis was performed on the text of responses to the UN-DESA survey, and on the text of the Empowerment component of the CBR Guidelines.

 

Results: Initial “word clouds” illustrated considerable discrepancy between concepts inherent in the three most relevant empowerment measures when compared with responses to the UN-DESA survey relating to empowerment in a development context. Subsequent lexical analysis depicted greater specificity and ranked the concepts associated with empowerment in key disability and development-related documents.

 

Conclusions: Conventional Western measures of individual empowerment may not adequately encompass the broader social, economic and community orientation of empowerment as described in documents from disability and development circles. Further research is required to substantiate these novel and speculative indications.

Disability transitions and health expectancies among adults 45 years and older in Malawi : a cohort-based model

PAYNE, Colin F
MKANDAWIRE, James
KOHLER, Hnas-Peter
May 2013

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This article presents the results of study that investigated how poor physical health results in functional limitations that limit the day-to-day activities of individuals in domains relevant to this subsistence-agriculture context. Participants came from 2006, 2008, and 2010 waves of the Malawi Longitudinal Survey of Families and Health, a study of the rural population in Malawi. The study found that individuals in this population experience a lengthy struggle with disabling conditions in adulthood, with high probabilities of remitting and relapsing between states of functional limitation. Given the strong association of disabilities with work efforts and subjective well-being, this research suggests that current national health policies and international donor-funded health programs in SSA inadequately target the physical health of mature and older adults.

 

PLoS Med Vol 10, Issue 5

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