Resources search

Purpose: Respite care is generally thought to benefit family carers of persons with intellectual disabilities and is regarded as an important component of family-centred services. However, the complexities associated with the provision of such services, from the carer’s perspective, have been rarely investigated.

Method: This qualitative research study was carried out through a participatory action research process that involved collaboration among researchers and family members as co-researchers. Seven focus groups, involving seventy family carers (fifty mothers, fifteen fathers and five sisters), were held in seven locations across the Republic of Ireland.

Results: Three main themes dominated the discussions. The first theme related to the ambivalence of carers towards using respite services, as expressed in their reluctance to relinquish care-giving for even a short period; the feelings of guilt they experienced; and the greater needs of other carers. The second theme related to the benefits of respite breaks, but these were solely with respect to the carer and other family members, rather than to the person with an intellectual disability. The third theme regarding the quality of provision was dominated by concerns for the care the person received in using the services.

Conclusions: Respite care has the potential to make a difference, and these findings call for building much- needed alliances between all members of the family and professionals. This is in order to support one another through the difficulties associated with the redesign of existing respite provision, and the extension of these services to the growing number of carers who require respite breaks.

Purpose: This study investigates employers’ perspective towards employing people with disabilities in the northern states of Peninsular Malaysia. The research also endeavoured to identify factors that promote or hinder gainful employment of people with disabilities in Malaysia.

Method: The data were collected through postal questionnaires distributed to several types of industries in the northern region of Malaysia.

Results: The results indicated that most of the employers are in favour of employing persons with disabilities. However, very few have such enabling policies, or a mechanism to handle issues related to persons with disabilities, or a built environment which is fully accessible to persons with disabilities. They are also concerned about the ability of workers with disabilities to comprehend and follow orders, as well as the costs involved in employing and training them. These results imply that if employers want to fulfil their intentions of recruiting persons with disabilities, a lot has to be done to employ and sustain them in their jobs.

The Leprosy Mission Nigeria conducted a disability survey in Kogi and Niger States of Nigeria in 2005, investigating the demographic characteristics of people with disabilities, including gender, age, religion, marital, educational, occupational, employment and economic status, understanding of disability and health-seeking behaviour.

Information was gathered from a convenience sample of participants, across 30 randomly selected towns and villages in the two states. Twelve trained bilingual research assistants were used, to translate the English language questionnaire verbally into the local language of each participant.

From the 1093 respondents studied, the most common disabilities involved vision (37%), mobility (32%) or hearing (15%). A third of these were less than 21 years of age and had no occupation, and 72% were Muslim. Over half of them had no education, 20% had primary, 8% secondary, 2% tertiary and 18% had Islamic education. Common occupations were begging (16%), studying (14%), farming (11%) and trading (8%). The majority were unemployed (61%) due to their disability. Over 70% were not able to access disability specific health services and 37% had an assistive device. Services accessed included health - mainstream (90%), traditional (61%) and counselling (58%); and other - rehabilitation (30%), assistive device provision (24%), welfare (22%), special education (15%), vocational training (10%) and economic empowerment (4%).

These results are comparable with findings in other studies. Disability affects a person’s ability to participate in education, work, family life and religion, influences health-seeking behaviour and contributes to poverty.

Persons with physical disabilities face many architectural and social barriers to community participation. This research employed the ‘Photovoice’ method. The aim was to gain insight into the daily lives of persons with physical disabilities, and to assess their needs in the Kumasi metropolis. Participants in this study were trained and instructed to photograph their everyday activities, so as to document their struggles and concerns, to promote critical dialogue and to reach policymakers. Results indicated a number of concerns, such as poor accessibility to public toilets, transport and buildings, as well as a need for attitudinal change and equal opportunities. Other needs which were raised by theparticipants included economic empowerment, marketable vocational training, accident prevention, affordable and quality rehabilitation, and the establishment of emergency shelters. It was concluded that the most pressing needs of persons with disabilities were related to overall social, employment and accessibility issues. Finally, the ‘Photovoice’ methodology offered a suitable, structured, and participatory way to assess the needs of persons with disabilities. It gave this marginalised group a voice through photographs, and formed an excellent way of disseminating the findings of this study to the stakeholders involved.