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Disability and global health: Special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

KUPER, Hannah
POLAK, Sarah
Eds
2019

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Papers included in this special issue are:

 

The Journal of Mental Health Training, Education and Practice, vol.12, no.4 Special Issue - Mental health pathways for people with intellectual disabilities: the education, training and practice implications

CHARNOCK, David
WRIGHT, Nicola
Eds
November 2017

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"This special edition aims to address some of the complexities and challenges faced in mainstream mental health services in three ways. First, to highlight the specific needs of people with intellectual disabilities and mental health problems. Second, to promote the importance of interdisciplinary working and learning in relation to mental wellbeing and intellectual disability, showcasing innovative approaches to care and finally, to offer a voice to specialists from intellectual disability practice and research to foster practical and conceptual thinking in relation to this group of service users"

There is a freely accessible editorial and there are six papers:

  • People with intellectual disabilities accessing mainstream mental health services: some facts, features and professional considerations
  • Psychiatry and intellectual disabilities: navigating complexity and context
  • Development and dissemination of a core competency framework
  • Mental health staff views on improving burnout and mental toughness
  • Using wordless books to support clinical consultations
  • Actors with intellectual disabilities in mental health simulation training

Full articles are not free.

Gendered experiences of physical restraint on locked wards for women

FISH, Rebecca
HATTON, Chris
2017

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Physical restraint is used in inpatient services for people with intellectual disabilities as a way of holding a person to avoid injury. This article uses data from an ethnographic study in a locked unit in the north of England to explore women’s experiences of physical restraint using a feminist disability studies analysis. Data consists of field notes as well as interviews with 16 of the women who had experienced restraint, and 10 staff who worked with them. The women gave insights into the gendered phenomenon of restraint in light of their past experiences of violence. The authors argue that restraint is used with women to encourage passivity at times when more relational and therapeutic methods could be used. The article offers recommendations for alternative strategies that services can encourage.

Caring for people with intellectual disabilities in poor rural communities in Cambodia : experience from ADD International

CORDIER, Sylvie
October 2014

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This article explores the impact of ADD International’s project in Cambodia, which aimed to support communities to learn more about persons with intellectual disabilities and support them in their daily life. The article has a particular focus on how this work affected carers, the majority of whom are women

Gender & Development, 22:3

Torture in healthcare settings : reflections on the Special Rapporteur on torture's 2013 thematic report

ANTI-TORTURE INITIAITIVE
February 2014

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This resource is a collection of articles focused upon the treatment of people with psycho-social disabilities in health-care settings, particularly with regard to torture, abuse and ill-treatment, and reflecting on the Special Rapporteur on Torture’s 2013 thematic report.

It brings together contributions by more than thirty international experts in response to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture Juan E. Méndez’s thematic report, providing insights into essential topics and highlighting issues at the forefront of the intersecting medical, legal, and policy fields. It supports a commitment to tackling the challenges that continue to arise in promoting and protecting the human rights of persons in diverse healthcare settings globally

Community-based rehabilitation (CBR) and persons with intellectual disabilities : international workshop report

SUNIL, Deepak
Ed
March 2013

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This report presents a summary of the main issues and conclusions from a CBR and persons with intellectual disabilities workshop. The workshop’s four sessions included "a session on health care needs led by Alaa Sebeh; a session on inclusive education led by Katharina Pfortner; a session on livelihoods and economic independence led by Philipa Bragman; and lastly, a session on social participation and empowerment led by Kathy Al Ju’beh." At the end of the workshop the participants agreed to establish an electronic group/network on CBR and intellectual disabilities. All presentations can be accessed from the website in pdf format
"CBR and Persons with Intellectual Disabilities"
Agra, India
24-25 November 2012

A Framework for Healthcare Provision to Children with Intellectual Disability

NUJUM, Z T
ANILKUMAR, T
VIJAYAKUMAR, K
ANISH, T
MOOSAN, H
2013

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Purpose: The Kudumbashree mission, an initiative of the Government of Kerala state in India, has collaborated with Local Self Governments to set up ‘Buds’, a special school system for individuals with intellectual disability. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the structure and functioning of ‘Buds’ schools, to identify the healthcare needs of the students, and to conceptualise a framework for healthcare provision.

 

Method: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 202 children at 11 registered ‘Buds’ schools in Kerala. A multidisciplinary team consisting of a psychiatrist, public health personnel and a social worker from the Medical Colleges of Kerala, visited the institutions. Data collection consisted of abstraction from medical records, interviews with parents, and clinical assessment and prescription of intervention by the specialists concerned. A pre-tested semi- structured questionnaire was used for every child. Using both quantitative and qualitative techniques, the public health personnel in the team evaluated the structure and functioning of the schools.

 

Results: The most commonly associated condition was epilepsy, seen in 11.9% of the children, while 28.2% had behavioural problems. The medicines needed were mainly anti-epileptics and drugs for behavioural problems. Interventions for self help and social skill training were also among the important requirements. The infrastructure and other facilities were poor in many schools, with the average student to teacher ratio at 14:1. While these institutions were well utilised, functioning was good only in 27.2% of the schools. Healthcare services and visits by healthcare personnel were far from adequate. This study proposes a framework in which the Medical Colleges and Health Services can function together to deliver healthcare services to children at these schools, with linkages from the District Mental Health Programme (DMHP).

 

Conclusion and Recommendation: Evidence that these schools are well utilised indicates a need to propagate this initiative in other areas of the state, country and other countries. However, improvements in infrastructure, human resources and other logistics are required. Besides, the healthcare needs of these children have to be addressed. A comprehensive healthcare programme through the existing system, using a multidisciplinary approach, needs to be developed.

The right to live in the community : making it happen for people with intellectual disabilities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo

ADAMS, Lisa
2008

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This report concerns the situation of people with intellectual disabilities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo under UN Security Council Resolution 1244, Montenegro and Serbia. It describes how five organisations working in the region have successfully developed innovative services to support people with intellectual disabilities to live in their communities as equal citizens. The aim of this report is to highlight the importance of developing a range of client-focused, community-based services as alternatives to institutionalisation; demonstrate that such services can successfully be developed in the region; identify barriers to the development of such services; and make recommendations on how to address such barriers

Human rights of persons with intellectual disability : country report Czech Republic

SISKA, Jan
January 2002

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This country report is one of the main outcomes of an Inclusion Europe project which was conducted in partnership with 8 local organisations of people with intellectual disability. Each chapter in the report describes the legislation, government policy, statistical info, views of NGOs and reactions of persons with intellectual disability and their parents on the subjects. The report also looks at the situation surrounding : awareness of the general public, employment, treatment and residential institutions

Disabled village children : a guide for community health workers, rehabilitation workers, and families

WERNER, David
1999

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This well-known manual contains a wealth of information that is crucial for therapists, professionals and community groups. It deals comprehensively with all common childhood disabilities including polio, cerebral palsy, juvenile arthritis, blindness and deafness. It provides clear, detailed information and easy-to-implement ideas for rehabilitation at the village level, the development of skills, making low-cost aids and the prevention of disabilities

Primary prevention of mental, neurological and psychosocial disorders

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO)
1998

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This book describes a number of simple and effective measures for the primary prevention of selected mental, neurological, and psychosocial disorders. Addressed to policy-makers as well as mental health professionals, the book aims both to increase awareness of the potential of primary prevention and to encourage the use of specific interventions. Four disorders are covered: mental retardation, epilepsy, suicide, and burnout of health care staff. Each disorder is discussed according to a common format that includes information on the size of the problem, risk factors and causes, and measures available for primary prevention. The book adopts a public health approach, arguing that the multifactorial causes of most mental and neurological disorders requires broad-based strategies involving many different sectors. Recommended lines of action range from simple procedures to measures at the legislative level. [Publisher's abstract, amended]

Prevention of mental handicaps in children in primary health care

Shah, P M
1991

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Some 5-15 percent of children aged 3 to 15 years in both developing and developed countries suffer from mental handicaps... the primary health care approach involving families and communities and instilling the spirit of self-care and self-help is indispensable. Mothers and other family members, traditional births attendents, community health workers, as well as nurse midwives and physicians should be involved in prevention and intervention acitivites, for which they should be trained and given knowledge and skills about appropriate technologies such as the risk approach, home-based maternal record, partograph, mobilogram (kick count), home-risk card, icterometer, and mouth-to- mask or bag and mask resuscitation of the newborn...

Applied research on disability in Africa : the East Africa report

WADDELL, Mary Ann

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“This literature review concerns the achievements of a project which started in 2014 and will last three years. The aim of this project is the dissemination and promotion of applied research results and disability to researchers and field stakeholders of the African continent (particularly to Disabled People Organizations), in order to increase knowledge on the situation of people with disabilities and the recommendations made to improve their social participation… The goal of this literary review is to report on existing knowledge about applied research on East Africa, regarding physical disability, mental health and less on learning disabilities, the concerns of people with disabilities and their carers’, adults and children, medical aspects of disability, identification of disability, experiences of disability, policy and policy implementation”

For sensitizing intermediaries on sexual rights of young people with learning disabilities

INTERNATIONAL PLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION EUROPEAN NETWORK

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“This manual has been developed for organizations who wish to educate and sensitize staff, teachers and carers about the sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) of young people with mild to moderate learning disabilities. Although it mainly focuses on intermediaries that are staff in an institution for young people with learning disabilities, it may well also be appropriate as a programme for the parents and family of young people with learning disabilities. The manual provides a menu of exercises that can be used to sensitize intermediaries on how to create a protective environment for young people with learning disabilities to prevent sexual abuse and violence”

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