Suchergebnisse

Featuring reports from low- and middle-income countries as diverse as Zimbabwe, Bolivia, Kyrgyzstan, and Papua New Guinea, this book situates disability rights within the broader context of global health and the need for greater inter-sector collaboration.

From the local to the global: the many contexts of disability and international development / Leslie Swartz and Malcolm MacLachlan -- The effect of failed states on the well-being and lives of people with disabilities / Mitchell Loeb -- The impact of international human rights law on the national laws of Ethiopia from a gender rights and disability rights perspective / Theresa Rouger -- Building an inclusive national strategy for disabled children in Kyrgyzstan through an application of the BIAS FREE framework / Mary Anne Burke and Andrea Pupulin -- Networking in disability for development: introducing the African Network for Evidence-to-Action on Disability (AfriNEAD) / Gubela Mji, Siphokazi Gcaza, Natalie Melling-Williams, and Malcolm MacLachlan -- Building disability research capacity in low-income contexts: possibilities and challenges / Leslie Swartz -- Empowerment, advocacy and national development policy: a case study of disabled peoples' organizations in Bolivia / Marianne Griffiths, Hasheem Mannan, and Malcolm MacLachlan -- Cultural challenges in piloting disability surveys in Papua New Guinea / Patricia Thornton -- Disability and HIV/AIDS: a key development issue / Poul Rohleder, Leslie Swartz, and John Philander -- Assistive technology in low-income countries / Arne H. Eide and Tone Øderud -- Childhood disability in Burkina Faso and Sierra Leone: an exploratory analysis / Cliona O'Sullivan and Malcolm MacLachlan -- Education, disability, and international development / Petra Engelbrecht, Ansie Kitching, and Willy Nel -- Listening to the voices of disability: experiences of caring for children with cerebral palsy in a rural South African setting / Joanne Barratt and Claire Penn

We welcome Andrew Haig's critique of our paper, "Disability & Health: A research agenda" in Social Inclusion. Our paper sought to identify research priorities to better understand, provide enhanced services and a better quality of life for people with disabilities, particularly in relation to their health and wellbeing. Haig's critique makes several important points that deserve serious consideration. His comments reflect a view of the relationship between disability and health which is different from the one we have espoused. Specifically, Haig argues that (a) disability is a health problem, (b) medical rehabilitation should be separated from Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR), and (c) the evidence base for medical rehabilitation is much stronger than for CBR. We address each of these points below arguing that while some types of disability clearly result from health problems; often disability is not experienced as a health problem; and sometimes, disability in interaction with restricted access is the cause of health problems.

Disability is not a "health problem"; however some people with disabilities do have increased health needs, and all people with disabilities have the same right to access health services as others. The number of people living with disabilities is increasing, due partly to increasing numbers of people living with the consequences of chronic communicable and non-communicable diseases. Based on recommendations of the World Report on Disability, which provides the parameters for research, this paper sets out a research agenda calling for a considerable research programme on social, civil, and economic impacts of living with disability, arising from whatever cause, including communicable and non-communicable diseases; significant global health policy revisions; identification of constraints and facilitators in access to healthcare for people with disabilities; development of a robust evidence base for implementing the new guidelines on community-based rehabilitation; innovations in addressing human resource challenges faced by disability and rehabilitation service-providers; development of enabling technologies that focus on individuals' aspirations and social gain; preparedness for responding to the needs of people with disabilities in disaster situations; and the application of disability metrics to strengthen health systems.

The value of Assistive Technology in enabling active and equal participation in political, social, economic, and cultural life of people with disabilities, people ageing, and people with chronic conditions is broadly accepted. However, most of the global population who need assistive technology (AT) lack access to it, hence the call for international efforts to improve access to AT. Drawing from the capability approach (CA) developed by Amartya Sen and Martha C. Nussbaum, we explore factors that may hinder or facilitate access to AT. We examine the idea of an AT Passport as an innovative user-centered approach for improving access to AT. We used Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) to explore service users' lived experiences of access to AT and their understanding of the AT Passport concept. We identified the core values of human diversity, equity, access to opportunity, and individual freedom to choose a life of significance to them. Access to AT is central to expanding these capabilities subject to conducive personal and social-contextual issues. The AT Passport could be developed as a capability-enhancing resource by facilitating access to AT, harnessing the diversity of people's personal, social, and environmental factors to enrich peoples' capability sets. Further research is required to identify core AT Passport functionalities, usability, and acceptability features.