Resources search

How COVID affect families with disabilities around the world, with talkers from, Canadian Association with Community Living, Inclusion Africa, Inclusion International, and Sociedad Peruana de Síndrome Down.

Background: Lack of access to mobility for people with disabilities, particularly in less- resourced settings, continues to be widespread. Despite challenges to wheelchair delivery, the benefits to health, employment, social integration and life satisfaction are apparent.

Objectives: Previous studies have explored the impact of receiving a wheelchair on the lives of the users through cross-sectional or short-term longitudinal analysis. The current study was undertaken to evaluate whether previously reported changes were sustained after 30 months of use, and whether results varied between two differing models of a wheelchair.

Method: One hundred and ninety-one subjects from Peru, Uganda and Vietnam received one of two models of wheelchair provided by the Free Wheelchair Mission. Using interviews to record survey results, data were collected at the time the wheelchair was received and following 12 and 30 months of use. Variables of overall health, employment, income and travel were explored through non-parametric analysis.

Results: There was a significant improvement in overall health and distance travelled after 12 months, but these changes were no longer significant by 30 months (Friedman test for overall change, p = 0.000). Employment status showed a small but significant increase at 12 and 30 months (Cochran’s Q, p = 0.000). Reported income increased slowly, becoming significantly different at 30 months (Friedman test, p = 0.033). There was no association between the model of wheelchair received and the incidence of pressure ulcers, pain or maintenance required. There was higher satisfaction with the GEN_2 wheelchair at 12 months (p = 0.004), but this difference was not apparent by 30 months. Overall wheelchair satisfaction and maintenance levels were favourable.

Conclusion: While overall health status, and distance travelled into the community fluctuated over time, receipt of one of two models of a wheelchair in less-resourced settings of the world appears to have a positive sustained impact on employment and income. Further investigations should be carried out to confirm these results and explore the factors responsible for fluctuating variables. This study affirms the importance of long-term follow-up of outcomes associated with wheelchair distribution in less-resourced environments.

An assessment was carried out of the adaptation and scaling-up of an intervention to improve the visual health of children by training teachers in screening in the Apurimac region, Peru. In a pilot screening programme in 2009–2010, 26 schoolteachers were trained to detect and refer visual acuity problems in schoolchildren in one district in Apurimac. To scale-up the intervention, lessons learnt from the pilot were used to design strategies for: (i) strengthening multisector partnerships; (ii) promoting the engagement and participation of teachers and (iii) increasing children’s attendance at referral eye clinics. Implementation began in February 2015 in two out of eight provinces of Apurimac, including hard-to-reach communities. An observational study of the processes and outcomes of adapting and scaling-up the intervention was made. Qualitative and quantitative analyses were made of data collected from March 2015 to January 2016 from programme documents, routine reports and structured evaluation questionnaires completed by teachers. Partnerships were expanded after sharing the results of the pilot phase. Training was completed by 355 teachers and directors in both provinces, belonging to 315 schools distributed in 24 districts. Teachers’ appraisal of the training achieved high positive scores. Outreach eye clinics and subsidies for glasses were provided for poorer families. 

Bulletin of the World Health Organization, Volume 94, Number 9, September 2016, 633-708

http://dx.doi.org/10.2471/BLT.15.163634

The effect of mainstream social protection policies in Peru on the inclusion of persons with disabilities in Peruvian society are explored in the both economic and social context.  The policy analysis was conducted to understand past successes and failures and to plan for future policy implementation and the research took place alongside a similar analysis in Tanzania.  A policy research guideline was developed allowing cross-country comparison between the two studies. A literature review was carried out to identify social protection policies and programmes in Peru. In addition, 22 interviews were held with key stakeholders, including organisations of persons with disabilities, to explore more in-depth information on the impact of major policies. Social protection policies, health, education and employment issues for people with disabilities are covered. Associated qualitative and quantitative reports are available.

This report presents research about efforts to meet the needs and uphold the rights of persons with disabilities in four thematic areas: health care, rehabilitation, work and employment, and accessibility and enabling environments. Research findings are drawn from the experiences of landmine and cluster munition survivors and other persons with similar needs in 33 countries experiencing armed conflict or emerging from armed conflict or political or economic transition. Findings are placed within the context of relevant articles of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the World Report on Disability

This article assesses "the contribution of physical, mental, and cognitive chronic diseases to disability, and the extent to which sociodemographic and health characteristics account for geographical variation in disability." Using cross sectional surveys of people aged over 65 in seven low and middle income countries, the findings highlight specific associations of chronic diseases to disability and overall that dementia, not blindness, is overwhelmingly the most important independent contributor to disability for elderly people in low and middle income countries. This resource is useful to people interested in the contribution of chronic diseases to disability in elderly people
The Lancet, Vol 374, Issue 97041
To access this article, users need to register (free) online

"Child health in general and long-term nutritional status in particular are related to family characteristics and assets (including maternal education) and community characteristics (including access to public services), as well as to child-specific characteristics...This paper particularly explores how mothers' education interacts with access to clean water and sewerage, availability and quality of health facilities, proximity to paved or engineered roads, and access to electricity"

This publication is a collection of stories based on interviews with women in developing countries who participated in ACCP programmes. These women's stories illustrate the unnecessary suffering cervical cancer can cause women and their families and how prevention programs can save women's lives. ACCP projects have focused on regions in which cervical cancer incidence and mortality are highest: sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and South Asia, and have also focused on reaching women in their 30s and 40s