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Evaluation of Environmental Barriers faced by Wheelchair Users in India

DEVI, S
GOYAL, S
RAVINDRA, S
2013

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Purpose: Environmental factors restrict the extent to which people with disabilities can participate in society. The reduction of environmental barriers will increase their participation in the social, educational and vocational spheres of life. With the use of a valid and reliable tool - the Craig Hospital Inventory of Environmental Factors (CHIEF) questionnaire - this study aimed to evaluate the environmental barriers faced by wheelchair users in Bangalore city, India.

 

Method: A convenience sample of 100 wheelchair users, between 16 and 40 years of age, and working in different institutions in Bangalore, participated in the study. The CHIEF questionnaire was administered to each participant. It consisted of multiple questions pertaining to the 5 components of environmental barriers faced by wheelchair users: Accessibility, Accommodation, Resource availability, Social support and Equality. Percentage values for the responses in each component were calculated.

 

Results: The results showed that 52% of wheelchair users faced problems in Accessibility on a daily basis, and 77% of them felt the problem was big. With respect to Accommodation, 41% faced problems once a month and 50% of them felt that this was a big problem. The maximum percentage of participants did not face problems in Resource availability (43%), Social support (50%) and Equality (59%), and therefore these aspects were not felt to be a big problem.

 

Conclusion: An understanding of the environmental barriers faced by wheelchair users can provide guidance in mapping policies and strengthening laws which would help to improve their quality of life.

The Application of ICF-based Functioning Data on Home Environment Adaptation for Persons with Disabilities

TONGSIRI, S
HAWSUTISIMA, K
2013

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Purpose: This study illustrates how the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) domains and qualifiers could be used to create functioning profiles of persons with disabilities in order to plan environmental changes. The outcome of the interventions can be measured by before-and-after comparisons of these profiles.

 

Method: 33 persons with disabilities (11 each from three provinces), with an average age of 43 years, were interviewed between November 2011 and May 2012. 67% of them were male. The functioning profiles of all the subjects were used as guidelines for home environment adaptations.

 

Results: The data helped to understand the limitations of persons with disabilities and identified the areas that needed enhancement to improve their functioning. Modification lay-outs were provided for all 33 persons with disabilities.

 

Conclusion and Implications: It was demonstrated that the ICF framework could help create functioning profiles to guide modifications in the home environment. Future studies should examine whether ICF can measure actual changes that occur after the modifications.

Employability of People with Disabilities in the Northern States of Peninsular Malaysia: Employers’ Perspective

TA, T L
WAH, L L
LENG, K S
2011

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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.

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