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Papers included in this special issue are:

• The UNICEF/Washington Group Child Functioning Module—Accuracy, Inter-Rater Reliability and Cut-Off Level for Disability Disaggregation of Fiji’s Education Management Information System
• Disability and Access to Sexual and Reproductive Health Services in Cameroon: A Mediation Analysis of the Role of Socioeconomic Factors
• Assessing the Impact of the Twin Track Socio-Economic Intervention on Reducing Leprosy-Related Stigma in Cirebon District, Indonesia
• Factors Influencing Disability Inclusion in General Eye Health Services in Bandung, Indonesia: A Qualitative Study
• Unmet Needs and Use of Assistive Products in Two Districts of Bangladesh: Findings from a Household Survey
• Analysis of Social Determinants of Health and Disability Scores in Leprosy-Affected Persons in Salem, Tamil Nadu, India
• Developing Behaviour Change Interventions for Improving Access to Health and Hygiene for People with Disabilities: Two Case Studies from Nepal and Malawi
• Intersections Between Systems Thinking and Market Shaping for Assistive Technology: The SMART (Systems-Market for Assistive and Related Technologies) Thinking Matrix
• Adverse Childhood Experiences in Children with Intellectual Disabilities: An Exploratory Case-File Study in Dutch Residential Care
• Risk of Exclusion in People with Disabilities in Spain: Determinants of Health and Poverty
• Implementation of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) Core Sets for Children and Youth with Cerebral Palsy: Global Initiatives Promoting Optimal Functioning
• Challenges in Accessing Health Care for People with Disability in the South Asian Context: A Review
• A Systematic Review of Access to Rehabilitation for People with Disabilities in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
• A Systematic Review of Access to General Healthcare Services for People with Disabilities in Low and Middle Income Countries

Purpose: Cerebral palsy (CP) is the most common chronic childhood disability, but in most cases the primary causes are largely unknown. The study sought to determine the perceptions about the causes and risk factors of CP among primary caregivers of children with CP in the Ashanti region of Ghana.

Method: A descriptive study design with a quantitative approach was used. A simple random sampling technique was adopted to select 100 participants from among the primary caregivers whose children with CP were attending the physiotherapy unit of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Ashanti region.  A structured questionnaire was administered to the respondents and data were analysed using SPSS version 21.0.

Results: CP was perceived as a disease caused by witchcraft (40%), punishment from God or Gods (12%), or by being cursed (10%). More than half (54%) of the respondents did not know of any risk factor for CP.

Conclusion and Implications: The perceived negative causes, as well as ignorance about the risk factors for CP, could result in primary caregivers stopping their children with CP from availing of the physiotherapy services. Public education and campaigns should focus on the causes and risk factors for CP, in order to change negative perceptions and improve awareness among the general public.

This learning resource is the result of a partnership between World Vision Australia and CBM Australia that aims to improve inclusion of people with disabilities in World Vision’s Water, Hygiene and Sanitation (WASH) initiatives, including in Sri Lanka. The guidelines are based on experiences and observations from World Vision’s implementation of the Rural Integrated WASH 3 (RIWASH 3) project in Jaffna District, Northern Province, funded by the Australian Government’s Civil Society WASH Fund 2. The four year project commenced in 2014. It aimed to improve the ability of WASH actors to sustain services, increase adoption of improved hygiene practices, and increase equitable use of water and sanitation facilities of target communities within 11 Grama Niladari Divisions (GNDs) in Jaffna District.

To support disability inclusion within the project, World Vision partnered with CBM Australia. CBM Australia has focused on building capacities of partners for disability
inclusion, fostering connections with local Disabled People’s Organisations, and providing technical guidance on disability inclusion within planned activities. World Vision also partnered with the Northern Province Consortium of the Organizations for the Differently Abled (NPCODA) for disability assessment, technical support and capacity building on inclusion of people with disabilities in the project.

HOME MODIFICATIONS FOR WASH ACCESS
This document is one of two developed in the Jaffna District and describes the strategies which were used to assist people with disabilities to access toilet and water facilities at their own home. The strategies were designed to be low cost and were developed using locally available materials and skills in the Jaffna District of Sri Lanka. Houses and toilet structures in the region were made of brick and concrete. No new toilets were built and modifications involved only minor work to existing household structures, water points and toilets.

NOTE:
The development of this learning resource was funded by the Australian Government's Civil Society WASH Fund 2.

The interaction of aging and disability is explored in the context of Myanmar. Blindness and deafness data are taken from the census. Carer givers and the family are discussed. Goverment and civil society responses are also discussed.

A briefing paper is also available.

Purpose: The study aimed to (1) measure the Work Ability of employees with disability; (2) assess the factor structure of different potential models of Work Ability Index (WAI) for employees with disability; and (3) identify the best factor structure of Work Ability Index for employees with disability in the Malaysian cultural context.

Methods: Data was collected using the Work Ability Index (WAI) translated into Malay language. The study sample consisted of 275 employees with physical disability, from both public and private sectors across Malaysia. Descriptive statistics were calculated using IBM SPSS 20 to evaluate the score of each subscale and the cumulative index of Work Ability among employees with disability. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted using IBM SPSS AMOS 21 to assess the factor structure of WAI and evaluate the validity of the proposed models for employees with disability.

Results: The WAI scores were 29.5% poor, 35.3% moderate, 28.7% good and 6.5% excellent. In the validation process, a non-orthogonal two dimensional structure was identified. In this model of WAI, the subscales were attributed to two factors: (1) subjective Work Ability factor that consisted of subscales 1, 2 and 7; and (2) health-related Work Ability factor, comprised of subscales 3, 5, 4 and 6. These two factors were positively correlated, which indicates that employees with disability who exhibit positive subjective Work Ability tend to also report positive health- related Work Ability.

Conclusion: This study has provided the first Malay version of WAI and has paved the way for future studies on work ability among employees with disability. The WAI translation has been validated among employees with disability and has shown adequate psychometric properties, thus making it suitable to investigate the associations between aspects of work and their impact on the health of employees with disability. 

This is a training manual for community based rehabilitation workers based upon physiotherapist's work on a rehabilitation project in Cape Town, South Africa. The manual is aimed at trainers of rehabilitation workers who are assumed to have adequate medical knowledge. The manual is divided into the following 4 main topics: health in the community; normal body functions; conditions and treatment; management of patients. Each section contains a summary of the learning aims for the rehabilitation workers, and the teaching is based mainly on a question and answer format
Note: originally published in 1990 by SACLA Health Project

A morning in the poorer parts of Dar es Salaam is described, during which Mama Kitenge visits families with children having mental and other disabilities and works with these children and their caregivers