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The patient perspective on the use of information and communication technologies and e-health in rehabilitation

WENTINK, M M
PRIETO, E
DE KLOET, A J
VLIELAND, T P M Vliet
MEESTERS, J J L
2017

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Introduction: Success of e-health relies on the extent to which the related technology, such as the electronic device, is accepted by its users. However, there has been limited research on the patients’ perspective on use of e-health-related technology in rehabilitation care.

 

Objective: To explore the usage of common electronic devices among rehabilitation patients with access to email and investigate their preferences regarding their usage in rehabilitation.

 

Methods: Adult patients who were admitted for inpatient and/or outpatient rehabilitation and were registered with an email address were invited to complete an electronic questionnaire regarding current and preferred use of information and communication technologies in rehabilitation care.

 

Results: 190 out of 714 invited patients completed the questionnaire, 94 (49%) female, mean age 49 years (SD 16). 149 patients (78%) used one or more devices every day, with the most frequently used devices were: PC/laptop (93%), smartphone (57%) and tablet (47%). Patients mostly preferred to use technology for contact with health professionals (mean 3.15, SD 0.79), followed by access to their personal record (mean 3.09, SD 0.78) and scheduling appointments with health professionals (mean 3.07, SD 0.85).

 

Conclusion: Most patients in rehabilitation used one or more devices almost every day and wish to use these devices in rehabilitation.

Disability measurement and the Washington Group on Disability Statistics : NGO training agenda

WASHINGTON GROUP ON DISABILITY STATISTICS
June 2017

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Four videos are provided which are live recording of an Introductory training for Non-Government Organisations on disability measurement

Session 1 Video: Overview of Disability Measurement and the Washington Group Short Set (1h 35m)

Session 2 Video: Collecting Disability Data (1h 42m)

Session 3 Video: The Importance & Feasibility of Disaggregation by Disability Status (57m)

Session 4 Video: The WG/UNICEF Module on Child Functioning (1h 14m)

 

Still left behind: Pathways to inclusive education for girls with disabilities

ABU AL-GHAIB, Ola
ANDRAE, Karen
GONDWE, Rachel
LEONARD CHESHIRE DISABILITY
June 2017

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This progress review aims to: provide a synthesis of the understanding of the additional barriers that girls with disabilities face in education; highlight effective or promising approaches and programmes addressing these barriers, including policies and legislation; point to gaps in evidence; and provide recommendations on a way forward. An internet search of relevant grey and academic literature on gender-responsive inclusive education was carried out. A search of websites of (inter) national non-governmental organisations, donors, and research institutions on the subject of gender-responsive inclusive education was conducted. In addition, requests for information on gender-responsive inclusive education interventions were submitted to platforms such as the Pelican Initiative and the Gender and Development Network UK. Subsequent referral to contact persons was followed up via email and phone with requests for sharing of studies, evaluations, progress reports, and other relevant documents of interventions.

Support and guidance for the report provided by UN Girls’ Education Initiative (UNGEI)

Central African Republic: People with disabilities at high risk - 4 years into conflict, more support, protection needed

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
June 2017

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People with disabilities in the Central African Republic have faced violent attacks, forced displacement, and ongoing neglect in the humanitarian response, Human Rights Watch said today. A peace accord signed on June 19, 2017, offers a chance to help this abused and marginalized group.

People with disabilities face high risk from violent attacks and forced displacement and are being neglected by aid groups as conflict in the Central African Republic intensifies.

New Human Rights Watch research in the country shows that people with a range of disabilities are often unable to flee violence, are especially vulnerable to attack while trying to flee, and face unsafe and unhealthy conditions in displacement camps.

This video and blog page report on the problems faced by people with disabilities as conflict in the Central African Republic intensifies. People with a range of disabilities are often unable to flee violence, are especially vulnerable to attack while trying to flee, and face unsafe and unhealthy conditions in displacement camps.

The right to live independently and be included in the community : Addressing barriers to independent living across the globe

ANGELOVNA-MLADENOVA, Lilia
June 2017

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"This reports looks at the main barriers to the realisation of disabled people’s right to live independently and be included in the community, which is set out in Article 19 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). They are grouped in seven broad areas: (1) misunderstanding and misuse of key terms, (2) negative attitudes and stigma, (3) lack of support for families, (4) prevalence of institutional services, (5) barriers related to community support services, (6) barriers in mainstream services and facilities, and (7) barriers, concerning other CRPD provisions, with effect on Article 19. A set of recommendations is also provided, outlining measures required to address these barriers"

Water justice, gender and disability : South Asian Water Studies (SAWAS), special issues, vol.5, no.4, June 2017

CLEMENT, Florian
NICOL, Alan
CORDIER, Sylvie
Eds
June 2017

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The papers in this volume on gender, persons with disabilities and WASH in South Asia help to provide important pointers on ways forward. A common thread throughout the four articles is that a constellation of challenges still exists, from 'exclusion' through prejudice at different levels, to institutional realities that render policy and other instruments ineffective in practice. In some cases, even, there remains a complete absence of key legal and policy instruments.  

Titles of the articles in this issue are: 

  • Planning for inclusion: exploring access to WASH for women and men with disabilities in Jaffna District, Sri Lanka
  • Breaking down Barriers: Gender and Disability in Access to Agricultural Water Management in Nepal
  • The Gender Gap between Water Management and Water Users: Evidence from Southwest Bangladesh​
  • Are policies enough to mainstream Gender in water and sanitation programs? Experiences from community managed drinking water supply schemes in India

Global Report on the participation of organisations of persons with disabilities (DPOs) in VNR Processes

INTERNATIONAL DISABILITY ALLIANCE
2017

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Within the Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities, a working group was created on the Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) aimed at raising awareness among Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (DPOs) to engage with their governments in the national consultation processes on SDG implementation, with particular focus on the 2017 44 volunteering countries. The VNR working group are compiling an outcome document reflecting the work that DPOs carried out at the national, regional and global levels. A comprehensive report – called the Global Report on DPO Participation in VNR Processes – will be issued in draft form prior to the HLPF and will be updated afterward with concrete findings. 

The report will showcase the national level DPO work carried out in different regions as well as best practices and challenges, and will serve as a case study for Member States. It will additionally be useful for DPOs as a model to engage with their government. The case study will feature the volunteering countries of Denmark, Italy, Sweden, Nigeria, Togo, Kenya, Ethiopia, Argentina, El Salvador, Peru, Guatemala, Indonesia, Bangladesh, India and Jordan.

Immigration and disability / Review of disability studies - Vol 13, No 2

THE REVIEW OF DISABILITY STUDIES
June 2017

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The latest issue of the Review of Disability Studies is out! Dive into this issues' topics ranging for Disability Studies in Physical Recreation, Social Participation of Children, Immigrants in Australia, Anxiety as a Tool for Critical Disability Studies, Film Genre and Mental Illness and much more.

Disability, CBR & Inclusive Development (DCID), 2017, Vol. 28 No. 2

2017

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6 research articles

  • Teachers’ Perceptions of Disabilities on the Island of Roatán, Honduras 
  • Access to Services and Barriers faced by People with Disabilities: A Quantitative Survey
  • Parent Empowerment in Early Intervention Programmes of Children with Hearing Loss in Mumbai, India 
  • Analysis of Bibliography on Specific Learning Disability in India 
  • Positive and Negative Impacts on Caregivers of Children with Intellectual Disability in India 
  • Effect of Multidisciplinary Intervention on Clinical Outcomes of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Mumbai, India 

Brief reports

  • Stigma, Learning and Inheritance: An Ecocultural Study of Adaptation and Resource use among Families of Children with Down Syndrome in Thailand
  • The Effects of Age and Gender on the Quality of Life of People with Chronic Back Pain in Bosnia and Herzegovina

The right to live independently and be included in the community : Addressing barriers to independent living across the globe

ANGLELOVA-MLADENOVA, Lilia
June 2017

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This reports looks at the main barriers to the realisation of disabled people’s right to live independently and be included in the community, which is set out in Article 19 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). They are grouped in seven broad areas: (1) misunderstanding and misuse of key terms, (2) negative attitudes and stigma, (3) lack of support for families, (4) prevalence of institutional services, (5) barriers related to community support services, (6) barriers in mainstream services and facilities, and (7) barriers, concerning other CRPD provisions, with effect on Article 19. A set of recommendations is also provided, outlining measures required to address these barriers.

The recommendations in this report – presented below - were shared with the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities when they were drafting the General Comment on Article 19. They can be used by governments and civil society organisations, alongside the General Comment, to identify actions needed to implement Article 191 CRPD.

 

Healthcare provider's attitude towards disability and experience of women with disabilities in the use of maternal healthcare service in rural Nepal

DEVKOTA, Hridaya Raj
KETT, Maria
GROCE, Nora
MURRAY, Emily
June 2017

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BACKGROUND:
Women with disabilities are less likely to receive maternal healthcare services compared to women without disabilities. While few studies have reviewed healthcare experience of women with disabilities, no studies have been conducted to understand provider's attitude towards disability in Nepal, yet the attitude and behaviour of healthcare providers may have a significant influence on aspects of care and the use of service by women with disabilities. This study examines healthcare provider's attitudes towards disability and explores the experience of women with disabilities in maternal healthcare service utilization during pregnancy and childbirth.

METHOD:
The study used mixed method approach. An attitude survey was conducted among 396 healthcare providers currently working in public health facilities in Rupandehi district of Nepal. For additional insight, eighteen in-depth interviews with women with disabilities who used maternal healthcare services in a healthcare facility within the study district in their last pregnancy were undertaken. The Attitude Towards Disabled Persons (ATDP) scale score was used to measure the attitudes of healthcare providers. For quantitative data, univariate and multivariate analysis using ANOVA was used to understand the association between outcome and independent variables and qualitative analysis generated and described themes.

Reproductive Health, 2017

Including children with disabilities in humanitarian action: WASH

DINSMORE, Christine
Ed
June 2017

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This guidance is designed for UNICEF field staff – including humanitarian field officers, coordinators, specialist and advisors – as well as UNICEF’s partners and others involved in humanitarian work. It provides practical tips and offers entry points for making sure that humanitarian action takes children with disabilities into account. There are 5 other associated guidelines. 

Chapters include: 

  • impact of emergiencies on children and adolescents with disabilities access to WASH
  • why children and adolescents with disabilities are excluded from WASH interventions
  • frameworks and approaches
  • programmatic actions
  • preparedness
  • response and early recovery
  • recovery and reconstruction
  • practical tips
  • accessible infrastructure tips

Towards a new directional turn? Directors with cognitive disabilities

SCHMIDT, Yvonne
2017

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Drawing from my first-hand observations and embodied experiences of having collaborated with HORA over the course of several years, this paper discusses an under-investigated area within the field of disability and performance: pioneering work by directors and with learning or cognitive disabilities, an area which has not yet been addressed in the expanding field of disability and performance studies.

Public health, research and rights: the perspectives of deliberation panels with politically and socially active disabled people

BERGHS, Maria
ATKIN, Karl
GRAHAM, Hilary
HATTON, Chris
THOMAS, Carol
2017

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Public health research purports to provide the evidence base for policies, programmes and interventions to improve the health of a population. However, there is increasing awareness that the experiences of disabled people have played little part in informing this evidence base. This paper discusses one aspect of a study commissioned by England’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) to review the implications for public health of theories and models of disability. This part of the study focused on the development of a tool or decision aid to promote ethical inclusion of disabled people in public health randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and evaluative research. The tool was introduced at four regional ‘deliberating panels’ involving politically and socially active disabled people. In addition, we held a panel with public health professionals. The deliberation panels debated how the focus of public health was narrowing, why disability was excluded and positive and negative issues with using rights to guide research and evaluative practice. Politically active disabled people argued for a social model of human rights to guide any rights based tools or decision aids in public health and disability research.

A new way to measure child functioning

UNICEF
WASHINGTON GROUP
May 2017

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"In recognizing the need for a set of questions that would produce internationally comparable data on children, the Washington Group formed a subgroup in 2009 that is chaired by the National Statistical Office of Italy (ISTAT). UNICEF joined the subgroup in 2011.

The first main activity of the subgroup was the development of a short set of questions to reflect current thinking on child functioning for inclusion in censuses and surveys. The new module uses the ICF-CY as the conceptual framework and relies on a functional approach to measuring disability.

The Washington Group/UNICEF Module on Child Functioning, finalized in 2016, covers children between 2 and 17 years of age and assesses functional difficulties in different domains including hearing, vision, communication/comprehension, learning, mobility and emotions. To better reflect the degree of functional difficulty, each area is assessed against a rating scale. The purpose is to identify the subpopulation of children who are at greater risk than other children of the same age or who are experiencing limited participation in an unaccommodating environment. The set of questions is intended for use in national household surveys and censuses"

The module is being translated into multiple languages. Supporting documentation, including a concept note, tabulation plan, templates for reporting, guidelines for interviewers and training materials are also available.

Social relationships, mental health and wellbeing in physical disability: a systematic review

TOUGH, Hannah
SIEGRIST, Johannes
FEKETE, Christine
May 2017

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The aim of this study is to systematically review quantitative studies exploring associations of social relationships with mental health and wellbeing in persons with physical disabilities. The objective is to summarise a complex and heterogeneous body of empirical research on the association of different social relationship constructs with mental health and wellbeing in physical disability and to highlight conceptual and methodological deficiencies in the field of research. The literature search included original articles published in English between January 1, 1995 and May 31, 2016. Data was extracted on study and participants’ characteristics, independent and dependent variables, used measures and effects sizes of associations between social relationships and mental health or wellbeing. A narrative review was performed to synthesise findings along the constructs social support, social networks, negative social interactions, family functioning and relationship quality.  Of the 63 included studies, 47 were cross-sectional and 16 longitudinal.

BMC Public Health (2017) 17:414 

DOI 10.1186/s12889-017-4308-6

Are national voluntary reviews promoting awareness and inclusion? : Perceptions survey on civil society and stakeholder engagement in voluntary national reviews and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda

COSTA, Naiara
LONG, Graham
LUXTON, Louise
May 2017

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"For the second year, Together 2030 has carried out a survey to collect evidence on stakeholder awareness of, and participation in, national planning and review around the 2030 Agenda. In 2017, the survey was conducted in partnership with the Newcastle University. The survey received 461 responses from a range of stakeholders, including national, regional and global organisations. This perceptions survey asked 20 questions in total (though not all questions were directed to all respondents). It was issued in three languages: English, Spanish and French, and was shared broadly with civil society and stakeholder mailing lists and via social media from March 3 to March 24 2017."

This report addresses two key questions about people’s participation in the 2030 agenda for sustainable development:

  • How extensive is stakeholder awareness of, and participation in, the process of country Voluntary National Reviews which are a central component of the High Level Political Forum
  • How aware and engaged is civil society and stakeholders across the world in national level planning and review of the SDGs?

This report presents statistical, survey-based evidence that helps to address these two questions. 

South Sudan: People with disabilities, older people face danger

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
May 2017

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It is reported that people with disabilities and older people in South Sudan face greater risks of being caught in fighting and greater challenges in getting necessary humanitarian assistance. In February and March 2017, Human Rights Watch interviewed more than 45 people with disabilities and older people in displacement sites in Juba and Malakal, as well as in Panyijar county in the former Unity state, where the UN declared famine in two counties in February. Human Rights Watch also met with aid organizations and the South Sudan Human Rights Commission. The challenges faced by people with disabilities are reported.

Exploring the links between poverty and disability in rural Bangladesh

DAVIS, Peter
May 2017

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This paper explores the links between poverty and disability drawing from 60 qualitative life-history interviews conducted in rural Bangladesh, in 48 households, in three districts, in March 2016. The paper provides insights into the relationship between poverty and disability with the aim of informing policy and practice concerned with both reducing poverty and improving the life chances of people with disabilities. All of the households had a person with a disability as a member, and in three households, two household members had a disability. Mechanisms by which poverty caused or exacerbated disabilities, and also how people with disabilities fell into poverty, were prevented from escaping poverty, and, in some cases, succeeded in escaping poverty are explored. 
 

WHO launches rehabilitation standards for Emergency Medical Teams

WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION (WHO)
May 2017

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WHO together with health partners such as CBM, Handicap International, and the International Committee of the Red Cross, have released the ‘Emergency Medical Teams: Minimum Technical Standards and Recommendations for Rehabilitation’ which provides important guidance on how emergency medical teams (EMTs) can incorporate rehabilitation in their response to emergencies. Using the experiences from the 2015 Nepal earthquake, this video shows the impact it had on the lives of those injured years later and highlights the reasons why rehabilitation needs to be a core component of any emergency medical response. Integrating rehabilitation into the EMT response resulted in greater clinical care by producing important, cost-effective, and positive long term outcomes at the individual, family, and community levels

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