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Purpose: Despite a highly progressive legislation and clear governmental commitment, living conditions among persons with disabilities in Namibia are systematically lower than among persons without disabilities. This implies that persons with disabilities are denied equal opportunities to participate and contribute to society, and consequently are denied their human rights.

Methods: EquiFrame, an innovative policy analysis framework, was used to analyse Namibian Policy on Orthopaedic Technical Services. EquiFrame evaluates the degree of stated commitment of an existing health policy to 21 Core Concepts of human rights and to 12 Vulnerable Groups, guided by the ethos of universal, equitable and accessible health services.

Results: A number of Core Concepts of human rights and Vulnerable Groups were found to be absent in the Namibian Policy on Orthopaedic Technical Services, and its Overall Summary Ranking was assessed as Moderate.

Conclusion and Implications: The Namibian health sector faces significant challenges in addressing inequities with respect to its policy on Orthopaedic Technical Services. If policy content, or policy ‘on the books’, is not inclusive of vulnerable groups and observant of core concepts of human rights, then health practices are also unlikely to do so. This paper illustrates that EquiFrame can provide the strategic guidance for the reform of Namibian Orthopaedic Technical Services policy, leading to universal and equitable access to healthcare.

Purpose: The majority of children and young people with disabilities live in developing countries where they face inequalities in education and other opportunities. Negative attitudes constitute one of the major barriers to thedevelopment of their potential.

This study aimed to describe the attitudes of students without disability towards their peers with disability, and to assess the role that gender and interpersonal contact play in shaping these attitudes.

Method: A cross-sectional study involving 107 students was carried out at an inclusive secondary school located in a peri-urban area in South Western Nigeria.

Participants were recruited from a group of 118 students in the three junior classes and senior class one (JSS 1 to SSS 1). A semi-structured questionnaire containing items on the “Chedoke-McMaster Attitudes Towards Children with Handicaps (CATCH) scale”, which elicits responses on a Likert scale numbered 0 to 4 (0-strongly disagree, 4-strongly agree), was administered. Data analysis was done using Stata version 12. Descriptive analysis was carried out and association between variables was determined using independent two-tailed t-tests.

Results: The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of the scale was 0.83. The attitudes of students in the school were generally positive (M = 22.55, SD = 3.79). Female students had higher total scores (M = 24.76, SD = 2.78) than their male contemporaries (M = 19.84, SD = 3.05), t (103) = 8.55, p = .000. Having a friend/relative with a disability was associated with more positive attitudes among female students.

Conclusions: In this inclusive setting, the attitudes of students towards their peers with disability were generally positive. Since interpersonal contact was associated with positive attitudes towards students with disabilities, interventions should be directed towards promoting interpersonal relationships in order to build an integrated society.

Purpose: This is one of the first comprehensive studies to assess receptive and expressive language skills in a South Indian language, Kannada. It demystifies language impairments and provides a model for future research to understand other languages in India and in countries around the world.

Method: Language impairments were identified in 68 students of Grades 3 and 4, in elementary schools where Kannada was the medium of instruction. The children were assessed in different language components. The results were analysed in terms of their ages and their levels of functioning in each language component and sub-component.

Results: As a group, the children showed no significant deficits in phonological and semantic skills; however, individual deficits and deficits within sub-component skills of semantics were noted. Mean and individual deficits in auditory reception, aural comprehension and receptive vocabulary were also noted. Deficits in syntax & verbal expression were notably significant. The extent of language delay increases with age, and plateaus at higher ages.

Conclusion: Children with language impairments in Kannada, display many similar characteristics in terms of problems in different components of language. Early intervention is called for because the language delay increases as age advances. A thorough assessment reveals specific strengths and weaknesses in language components and skills. This can be used as a starting point to base remediation activities.

Support through care and protection within a medical framework, rather than through the idea of independence within the least restrictive environment, continues to guide service provision for intellectually disabled people in the sexuality area. Past practices have included use of involuntary sterilisation. This article outlines the outcome of a search for information undertaken because of concerns that use of sterilisation-related procedures may remain embedded in contemporary approaches to sexuality support management. Verified instances of hysterectomy carried out between 1991 and 2001 were uncovered. Documents tabled at a Parliamentary Select Committee in 2003 expressing concerns about use in relation to young disabled girls were also found. Requests for sterilisation-related procedures exemplify how the right of all vulnerable citizens to full bodily integrity is currently adjudicated in New Zealand. It is suggested that further research is needed to pinpoint and address the underlying social customs through which requests for such procedures are negotiated and resolved.

When attempting to understand the construct of intellectual disability in different contexts, speaking to family members in addition to the individual with the disability may provide new insight about understandings of and responses to intellectual disability in society and may help to identify the forms of support that are available or needed to ensure the quality of life of people with disabilities. This article outlines and discusses interviews that were conducted in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, with family members of children and adults with intellectual disabilities. These interviews explore how families came to understand that their child had an intellectual disability; the availability of family support; and family hopes and dreams for the future, and were a part of a wider exploratory study that gathered insight from individuals with disabilities, families, and other providers of support to explore understandings and perceptions of disability in Dar es Salaam. Understanding family experiences will help researchers, policy makers, non-governmental organisations, and others to identify family strengths and family support needs which can ultimately improve family quality of life and the quality of life of the member with a disability.

Background: Empirical evidence abounds showing the impact of perceived control on subjective well-being in several spheres of functioning, including academic performance. At tertiary institutions, such as the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana, little is known about the needs of students with disabilities, as very few persons with disabilities attend institutions of higher learning.

Objectives: This study examined the relationship between perceptions of control and the academic and subjective well-being of students with disabilities.

Method: A total of 69 students with disabilities participated in this cross-sectional descriptive study. Using trusted control and subjective well-being scales, data were subject to descriptive analyses.

Results: Consistent with previous works, perceived control increased with increased subjective well-being, moderated by gender. In addition, forms of secondary control appeared to aid primary control in the tenacious pursuit of goals. However, neither perceived control nor self-esteem was predictive of academic performance.

Conclusion: Limitations of sample size notwithstanding, the findings of the study can be considered provocative. Implications for clinical utility in facilitating context-specific interventions for this marginalised group are discussed. Replication with a larger sample size in other tertiary institutions is suggested for future work.

During the “African Decade of Persons with Disabilities (2000-2009)”, East African countries witnessed significant achievements, especially in the development of law, collection of statistics and in funding. However, many persons with disability are still marginalised from opportunities in education, healthcare and employment.

Purpose: With the pre-supposition that the lack of institutional capacities for implementing disability policies is the one major stumbling-block which hinders widespread delivery of social services to persons with disabilities in low-income countries, this study makes a comparative analysis of institutional capacities in the disability sectors of Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.

Method: The research methods adopted were a literature survey and a field survey. The framework for analysis consists of: 1) capacities and functions of disability units in central governments, 2) relationships between central and local governments in the disability sector, and 3) relationships between governments and organisations of persons with disability (DPOs). Special attention is paid to the status, roles and functions of national councils for disability (NCDs), the independent statutory bodies recently established in each of the three countries, with clear authority and duties for the implementation of disability policies. The NCDs enable multi-sectoral stakeholders to be involved in the implementation of disability policies; therefore, positive relationships between the governments and DPOs are essential for the smooth functioning of the NCDs.

Results: While the result of the field survey in Tanzania reveals several effective approaches for the smooth operation of the NCD, further study is needed to verify whether these approaches would be applicable to other East African countries such as Kenya and Uganda.

Shoulder pain among paraplegic persons has negative effects on their lives. The prevalence of shoulder pain among persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) varies from 30% to 70% in different studies and may be related to repetitive use of the shoulder during self-care and wheelchair-related activities.

Purpose: This study focused on the prevalence of shoulder pain and examined its effects on activities of daily living and social participation, and on functional, work and recreational or athletic activities. It also aimed to detect the degree ofsatisfaction with shoulder functioning in wheelchair users who were paraplegic due to spinal cord injury, in the Gaza strip.

Methods: Cross sectional study design was used to collect data from 80 persons with paraplegia, post rehabilitation, who were still using manual wheelchairs (MWC) for ambulation. After giving informed consent, the selected persons were interviewed directly in their homes, and filled questionnaires which included demographic data, Wheelchair User’s Shoulder Pain Index (WUSPI) and Shoulder Rating Questionnaire (SRQ).

Results: The prevalence rate of shoulder pain among paraplegics who use manual wheelchairs was 62%. Pushing a wheelchair for 10 minutes or more, and propulsion up ramps or inclines outdoors were the most common activities that caused and exacerbated shoulder pain. Sixty four percent from among the study sample mentioned that they had no limitation in shoulder-using ability during daily personal and household activities, while the rest experienced different degrees of limitation. Seventy-four percent reported no limitation during recreational or athletic activities, while the rest (26%) agreed that pain has variably limited their participation in these activities. Fourteen percent from the sample rated the overall degree of satisfaction with their shoulder functioning as fair, and the rest rated their satisfaction from good to excellent.

Conclusion: Shoulder pain, ranging from mild to severe, was highly prevalent among SCI paraplegics who use MWCs during their usual activities, and other activities which involve wheelchair propulsion. About two- thirds of the subjectsreported no limitation in shoulder use during daily personal and household activities and in recreational or athletic activities.

Background: There are varied and complex problems associated with the admission of students with disabilities into secondary (senior high) schools all over the world. This situation is further complicated by difficulties encountered in the built environment of these institutions and, in this, Ghana is no exception.

Objectives: This exploratory study investigated the level of accessibility of the built environment in secondary schools in eight out of the ten regions of Ghana, in order to determine whether they conform to guidelines provided in international building standards and also assess the extent to which they have been designed and constructed to meet the provisions of the Persons with Disability Act 2006, which allows for equal access to public buildings in Ghana.

Method: In total, 705 building elements in 264 facilities were surveyed using international standards, building codes, regulations and guidelines. These facilities included car parks, classrooms, dormitories, assembly halls, telephone booths and administration blocks.

Results: Our findings revealed that most of the building elements were barring and not disability-friendly. Just to name a few: there were obstructions on access routes to and around buildings, absence of designated car parks, unfriendly vertical and horizontal means of circulation in buildings and lack of accessible sanitary accommodations. In addition, the general lighting and signage were poor. As a result, very few students with disabilities are admitted and retained in these schools.

Conclusion: Mainstreaming of people with disabilities into the Ghanaian educational system remains impossible unless urgent action is taken to alter the facilities at secondary schools. Based on this research outcome, recommendations have been made to the Ghanaian government and the Ghana Education Service, as well as non-governmental organisations and relevant professional bodies for the amelioration of the present situation in our secondary schools.