Resources search

Work conditions, support, and changing personal priorities are perceived important for return to work and for stay at work after stroke – a qualitative study

LINDGREN, Ingrid
Brogårdh, Christine
PESSAH-RASMUSSEN, Helene
JONASSON, Stina B
GARD, Gunvor
2020

Expand view

Purpose: To explore work related and personal facilitators and barriers for return to work (RTW) and stay at work after stroke.

 

Materials and methods: Twenty individuals post-stroke (median age 52 years; seven women) were inter- viewed in focus groups. Data were analyzed by using qualitative content analysis.

 

Results: An overall theme “Work conditions, support and changed personal priorities influenced RTW and stay at work after stroke” emerged and covered three categories: “Adjustments and flexibility at the work place facilitated RTW and a sustainable work situation”, “Psychosocial support and knowledge about stroke consequences facilitated work and reduced stress”, and “Changed view of work and other personal priorities”. Physical adjustments at the work place and flexibility in the work schedule were perceived facilitators. Support from family and colleagues were important, whereas lack of knowledge of stroke dis- abilities at the work place was perceived a barrier. Also changed personal priorities in relation to the work and the current life situation influenced RTW in various ways.

 

Conclusions: The individual’s opportunities to influence the work situation is a key factor for RTW and the ability to stay at work after stroke. Adjustments, flexibility, support, knowledge of stroke, and receptiv- ity to a changed view of work are important for a sustainable work situation.

The hidden impact of COVID-19 on children and families with disabilities.

ORSANDER, Martina
MENDOZA, Pamela
BURGESS, Melissa
ARLINI, Silvia Mila
October 2020

Expand view

This report is one in a series presenting findings from the Global COVID-19 Research Study on The hidden impact of COVID-19 on children. The results presented here focus on the impacts of COVID-19 on children and parents/caregivers with disabilities and their families, drawing on data from our representative sample of 17,565 parents/ caregivers and 8,069 children in our programme participants group. Topics covered include impacts of COVID-19 on household economy, health and nutrition, child education and learning, child rights, relationships between children and their parents/caregivers, psychosocial wellbeing, family separation and household violence.

The research was implemented in 46 countries in June and July 2020 and resulted in the largest and most comprehensive survey of children and families during the COVID-19 crisis to date, with 31,683 parents/ caregivers and 13,477 children aged 11–17 participating in the research. The research sampled three distinct population groups:

1. Save the Children programme participants;

2. Specific population groups of interest to Save the Children;

3. The general public.

A representative sample of Save the Children programme participants with telephone numbers or email addresses was obtained in 37 countries.

 

A GLOBAL RESEARCH SERIES

Looking under the veil: Challenges faced by people with disabilities in cross-border entrepreneurship

MATSAURE, Keresencia
CHINDIMBA, Agness
ZIMANO, Felistas R
RUFFIN, Fayth
September 2020

Expand view

Background: Cross-border entrepreneurship is one source of livelihood that is transforming people’s lives, especially those with limited resources and educational qualifications and those in need of supplementary earnings to complement meagre formal earnings. However, despite strides made to make this avenue worthwhile, this Zimbabwean study shows that hidden hindrances still persist from procedural and structural barriers from road entry point management systems. To people with disabilities (PWDs), the impact of these hidden barriers is severe to the extent of obstructing their optimum progression into cross-border entrepreneurship.

 

Objectives: This article sought to interrogate some veiled challenges in border management systems affecting PWDs’ quest to venture into cross-border entrepreneurship. This angle has, to this end, been timidly addressed as most organisations and legislation have concentrated on making things work for the majority of the populace.

 

Method: Qualitative phenomenological method in which researchers’ lived experiences, review of literature, ideas and opinions is complemented by secondary survey data from a road entry point management system study in the Zimbabwean setting.

 

Results: Cross-border entrepreneurship has potential to transform people’s lives: 1) road and border management systems’ procedural and structural complications present hidden challenges impeding PWDs’ entry and optimum participation in cross border entrepreneurship, 2) people with disabilities are not automatically dependents; in fact, most have dependents looking up to the, 30 social construction of disability persists and must be curbed and 4) there is a need to institute a ‘stakeholders triad approach’.

 

Conclusion: The existing road entry points’ management systems are not informed by considerations from PWDs, hence the existence of hidden challenges. Cross-border entrepreneurship can open significant livelihood avenues to PWDs. A stakeholders ‘triad-approach’, proposed herein, can solve some of the policy discrepancies as it recommends utilising inputs from PWDs, research and policy-makers.

 

African Journal of Disability, Vol 9, 2020 

The impact of Covid-19 on people with disabilities – emerging findings

ROHWERDER, Brigitte
THOMPSON, Stephen
WICKENDEN, Mary
WAKOKO, Eric
AKTER, Fatema
NJUNGI, Josephine
CHUBA-UZO, Shadrach
September 2020

Expand view

Emerging evidence suggests that people with disabilities are amongst the groups most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in all aspects of their lives. In order to provide more systematic evidence, narrative interviews were conducted with a diverse group of 40 jobseekers with disabilities in Bangladesh, Kenya, Nigeria, and Uganda who are involved with the Inclusion Works programme. The first round of interviews were conducted in July and August 2020. Initial key findings are given.

 

The impact of COVID-19 on disabled people in Northern Ireland

FITZSIMONS, Sean
O'NEILL, Emma
CRAWFORD, Alison
September 2020

Expand view

Key findings and recommendations are reported from an online survey published in April 2020 to gather the experiences of disabled people, their families and carers during the COVID-19 outbreak in Northern Ireland. The survey went live on April 1st 2020 and closed on April 30th 2020.  Over 400 survey responses were received, including over 1300 written statements. 

Key findings are reported in the areas of: social care; physical health; mental health and emotional wellbeing; carers; accessing food and medicine; accessing information; employment and training; social security benefits and community support

Disability inclusive health, WASH and livelihoods in the COVID-19 response - Thematic guidance notes

AUSTRALIAN HUMANITARIAN PARTNERSHIP (AHP)
September 2020

Expand view

Practical guidance has been developed for disability inclusion within the priority sectors of Health, WASH, and Livelihoods and Food Security. This guidance has been developed to inform the AHP Disaster READY program and COVID-19 humanitarian response efforts, and contribute to sectoral understanding of inclusive humanitarian response and disaster preparedness.

COVID-19 and its impact on persons with disabilities

MERKT, Jess
September 2020

Expand view

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the lives of persons with disabilities is highlighted and the setbacks its socio-economic consequences could have on their independence, employability, and inclusion — especially in countries that are already dealing with armed conflict and violence are elucidated. The career development programme introduced by ICRC is briefly mentioned.

Inclusion of persons with disabilities in social protection for COVID-19 recovery and beyond

COTE, Alex
BALASUBRAMANIAN, Meenakshi
WANGARE, Fatma
HUDA. Karishma
DOS SANTOS, Joaozito
O'BRIEN, Felicity
September 2020

Expand view

The COVID-19 crisis has magnified the barriers and inequalities faced by persons with disabilities. Consultation with organisations representing persons with disabilities across regions highlighted the limitation of social protection systems in LMICs to provide adequate support due to lack of social protection schemes, low coverage, and inadequacy of existing schemes. There is little in the way of publicly funded community support services and in some contexts an overreliance on residential institutions, whose users have been disproportionally represented among COVID-19 fatalities. 

In the midst of the crisis, countries have been struggling with inaccessible information (e.g sign language), the lack of universal schemes, and national disability registry for broad outreach and fast relief.

The webinar aimed at providing a global overview of the social protection response for persons with disabilities and their families as well as the different key social protection issues to consider for an inclusive COVID-19 recover

Understanding disability extra costs

CENTRE FOR INCLUSIVE POLICY
September 2020

Expand view

Extra costs incurred by people with disabilitites are illustrated through case studies of children, adults and older people with disabilities. 

Meet the business owner training youth with disabilities

SIGHTSAVERS
September 2020

Expand view

Sightsavers’ Connecting the Dots initiative in Uganda offers young people with disabilities the opportunity to learn a new trade and gain valuable work experience. Over 500 young people in the Masindi area of Western Uganda have taken part in Connecting the Dots, a scheme that links them up with training and employment opportunities. After completing a three-month course learning a trade of their choice – including construction work, welding, tailoring or hairdressing – they are connected with local employers where they spend three to six months working on the job. Several examples are highlighted.

Disability inclusion in the Western Balkans and Eastern Partnership countries. Disability Inclusion Helpdesk Report No: 51.

CORBY, Nick
CLUGSTON, Naomi
September 2020

Expand view

This briefing note provides guidance on how to incorporate disability inclusion within economic and governance reform projects. It is intended to inform the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s (FCDO) Good Governance Fund (GGF). This Note provides basic, introductory guidance on disability inclusion to FCDO advisers and managers engaging with economic and governance reform and sets out opportunities for the FCDO’s programmes and policy dialogue to deliver positive impacts for people with disabilities. The Note addresses three key questions: 2 1. What is the broad status of the rights of people with disabilities in GGF countries and are there any significant differences between the countries? 2. What are the recommended entry points for incorporating disability inclusion within economic and governance reform projects within the five GGF thematic areas? 3. How should the GGF incorporate disability inclusion into the next business case?

 

An annex provides short notes on several factors for each country. The factors are: the legal framework; disability prevalence; economic inclusion; social inclusion; institutionialisation; access to justice; receptions and representation in the media.

Employment of young people with mental health conditions: making it work

SUBRAMANIAM, Mythily
ZHANG, Yunjue
SHAHWAN, Shazana
VAINGANKAR, Janhavi Aijt
SATGHARE, Patrika
LIN TEH, Wen
ROYSTONN, Kumarasan
MING JANRIUS GOH, Chong
MANIAM, Yogeswary
LIANG TAN, Zhuan
TAY, Benjamin
VERMA, Swapna
ANN CHONG, Siow
2020

Expand view

Purpose: The current study was undertaken to understand and describe the meaning of work as well as the barriers and facilitators perceived by young people with mental health conditions for gaining and maintaining employment.


Materials and Methods: Employing a purposive and maximum variation sampling, 30 young people were recruited and interviewed. The respondents were Singapore residents with a mean age of 26.8 years (SD 1⁄4 4.5, range 20–34years); the majority were males (56.7%), of Chinese ethnicity (63.3%), and employed (73.3%), at the time of the interview. Verbatim transcripts were analysed using inductive the- matic analysis.

 

Results: Three global themes emerged from the analyses of the narratives, which included (i) the mean- ing of employment, (ii) barriers to employment comprising individual, interpersonal and systemic difficul- ties and challenges participants faced while seeking and sustaining employment and (iii) facilitators of employment that consisted of individual and interpersonal factors that had helped the young persons to gain and maintain employment.

 

Conclusions: Stigma and discrimination emerged as one of the most frequently mentioned employment barriers. These barriers are not insurmountable and can be overcome both through legislation as well as through the training and support of young people with mental health conditions.

Government funding to support disability inclusion in Kenya

Development Initiatives
September 2020

Expand view

This report presents research that was undertaken as part of Development Initiatives’ work on data to support disability inclusion. It provides analysis of government budget allocations to disability inclusion programmes in Kenya over the period of financial year 2016/17 (FY2016/17) to financial year 2020/21 (FY2020/21). The analysis focuses on disability-relevant ministries, departments and agencies at the national level, including those led by the State Department for Social Protection, the Office of the President, the State Department for Early Learning and Basic Education, and the State Department for Vocational and Technical Training. Due to limitations in the available data, the analysis looks primarily at the education and social protection sectors.

 

This report has been funded with UK aid from the UK government, and was developed with the support of the Inclusive Futures consortium. The opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the UK government or other members of the Inclusive Futures consortium.

Covid-19 Double Jeopardy for Persons with Disability

ADD International
August 2020

Expand view

SUMMARY

This report presents the findings from telephone interviews with 91 representatives from 15 Disabled People’s Organisation (DPO) partners in Bangladesh, to ask about the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on persons with disabilities in Bangladesh.

The report finds that, in the Covid-19 pandemic, some persons with disabilities experience double jeopardy—not only are persons with disabilities disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, but they are also disproportionately excluded from protection and survival support.

Persons with disabilities report being disproportionately excluded from Covid-19 support. 63% of respondents report not receiving the same protection and survival support as others. Two-thirds of those who described their personal experiences reported supply shortage or diversion of essential food and medical supplies as reasons for why they had been excluded.

Relief that has been provided has not met need. Many respondents (84%) report that survival support does not meet their basic needs. Support received has mostly been food instead of cash. Some (17%) report difficulty in following Covid-19 advice, mostly because they cannot afford protection materials.

Persons with multiple disabilities are being left further behind. Respondents with multiple functional difficulties experience more exclusion than respondents with one functional difficulty. This finding of disproportionate exclusion is statistically significant and consistent with qualitative responses, which show that most of those that did report challenges in following received advice were persons with multiple functional difficulties. This strongly suggests that persons with multiple functional difficulties experience more barriers. Persons with multiple functional difficulties who were excluded tended to report difficulties in communicating, remembering, self-care and walking.

The economic impact of the pandemic is acute for persons with disabilities. On average, respondents report losing 65% of their income since the Covid-19 crisis began, which in absolute terms, after adjusting for purchase power parity, is the equivalent of moving from £167 to £58 in monthly earnings.

Some respondents report that they are skipping meals and going hungry. Anecdotal reports reveal that families are reverting to one main meal every two days, or two main meals every three days. Many are borrowing and relying on family support to meet their daily needs to survive, and some of those who already depended on family support have had that support reduced or withdrawn. On balance, future plans reflect a sense of precarity due to uncertainty, ranging from feelings of hope with specific plans to powerlessness with no plans.

Government can do more. Many respondents said government should prioritise persons with disabilities and provide more relief. Many voiced concerns about how relief was being distributed or stolen, and that it is not reaching those most in need. The majority of respondents said that NGOs and wealthy people should play a role in support efforts.

Barriers experienced by people with disabilities participating in income-generating activities. A case of a sheltered workshop in Bloemfontein, South Africa

TINTA, Nokuthula
STEYN, Hester
VERMAAS, Jana
2020

Expand view

Background: People with disabilities often participate in income-generating activities (IGAs) in sheltered workshop in South Africa. However, they face many barriers that limit their ability to participate effectively in economic activities hosted by the workshops.

 

Objectives: To illustrate the barriers that limit the participation of people with disabilities in IGAs in a sheltered workshop.

 

Method: A qualitative exploratory single case study was conducted in a sheltered workshop. Eighteen participants, age 22 to 52 years with various disabilities were purposively sampled. Observations and semi-structured interview guides were used to generate data. Verbatim transcription was used after which content analysis was applied to identify ideas and concepts relating to barriers experienced by people with disabilities participating in IGAs.

 

Results: Some of the barriers participants experienced included institutional barriers (ability to use working tools, inability to concentrate for long periods, lack of funds, language barriers, lack of motivation, activities that are not stimulating and lack of artistry skills) and attitudinal barriers (exclusion from decision making) These barriers had an adverse influence on their performance in IGAs.

 

Conclusion: The study found eight different barriers that existed in a sheltered workshop which limited the participation of the people with disabilities that attended the workshop. This information can be used to develop strategies to address each barrier and promote increased participation of the individual thereby improving their quality of life.

 

 

African Journal of Disability, Vol 9, 2020 

Pivoting to inclusion : Leveraging lessons from the COVID-19 crisis for learners with disabilities

McCLAIN-NHALPO,Charlotte Vuyiswa
KULBIR SINGH,Ruchi
MARTIN,Anna Hill
et al
August 2020

Expand view

As governments respond to the Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the global community must ensure that persons with disabilities are included. This will require disability inclusion to be considered in all interconnected sectors; education, health, social protection, and inclusion from the planning stage all the way through to delivery and recovery efforts that are inclusive of all and are sufficiently differentiated to meet the specific needs of children with disabilities. The issues paper focuses on the following objectives: (1) addressing education, social needs, barriers, and issues for learners with disabilities at a global, regional, and country-level during the COVID-19 crisis; and (2) recommending practices for education and social inclusion, and reasonable accommodations utilizing the twin track approach and principles of universal design for learning.

2020 Disability Equality Index Report

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES (AAPD)
Disability:IN
August 2020

Expand view

A joint initiative between the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) and Disability:IN, the Disability Equality Index (DEI) is a benchmarking tool that provides an objective score and roadmap on disability inclusion policies and practices for businesses. The DEI is a benchmarking tool for the Fortune 1000 and America’s top 200 revenue grossing law firms (Am Law 200) to gauge their level of disability workplace inclusion against competitors. 

What began as largely U.S. efforts to create disability-inclusive workplaces is now a much larger conversation. In 2020, 75% of participating DEI companies have operations outside of the U.S.

How do legal and policy frameworks support employment of people with disabilities in Uganda? Findings from a qualitative policy analysis study

GRIFFITHS, Andrew
BECHANGE, Stevens
LORYMAN, Hannah
IGA, Chris
SCHMIDT, Eleanor
August 2020

Expand view

This policy analysis reviewed the current legislation and policies on the economic empowerment of people with disabilities in Uganda and explored the views of national stakeholders on the implementation of these policies in practice. The analysis was conducted through a document review and in‐depth stakeholder interviews. The study found that anti‐discrimination policies can only do so much for disability inclusive recruitment. Questions about policy implementation, stakeholder ownership, trust and efficiencies within the system and sufficient accountability mechanisms need addressing, if the existing framework is to be effective and positively impact the lives of people with disabilities in Uganda.
 

https://doi.org/10.1002/jid.3508


Journal of International Development J. Int. Dev. 32, 1360–1378 (2020J

Work capacity assessments and efforts to achieve a job match for claimants in a social security setting: an international inventory

SENGERS, Johan H
AMBA, Femke I
BROUWER, Sandra
STAHL, Christian
2020

Expand view

Purpose: Many high-income countries are witnessing a shift of focus on eligibility for disability benefits towards promotion of work reintegration. However, little is known about how countries assess work cap- acity, and how a job match is then obtained. The current study aims to compare work capacity assess- ments and available efforts to achieve a job match in eight high-income OECD countries.

 

Methods: A survey was conducted among key stakeholders concerning organization of work capacity assessments in social security settings, and efforts made to obtain a job, across eight OECD countries: Australia, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Sweden, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States. 

 

Results: In most countries, work capacity is assessed at several time points, with variations in moments and in information used for job matching. In countries obtaining information on personal and work levels, the search to find a job match usually begins with the persons who have disabilities.

 

Conclusion: Although a shift towards a holistic focus in work capacity assessment has been recognized, medical factors still prevail. Limited emphasis is placed on the implications of functional limitations for the possibilities of work. A holistic approach to assessment needs to be coupled with holistic support measures through provision of coordinated and high quality job matching services.

Pages

E-bulletin