Resources search

A university’s response to people with disabilities in Worcester, Western Cape

MÜLLER, Jana V.
NED, Lieketseng
BOSHOFF, Hananja
October 2019

Expand view

Background: The call for institutions of higher education to foster interaction with communities and ensure training is responsive to the needs of communities is well documented. In 2011, Stellenbosch University collaborated with the Worcester community to identify the needs of people with disabilities within the community. How the university was engaging with these identified needs through student training still needed to be determined.

 

Objectives: This study describes the engagement process of reciprocity and responsivity in aligning needs identified by persons with disability to four undergraduate allied health student training programmes in Worcester, Western Cape.

 

Method: A single case study using the participatory action research appraisal methods explored how undergraduate student service learning was responding to 21 needs previously identified in 2011 alongside persons with disability allowing for comprehensive feedback and a collaborative and coordinated response.

 

Results: Students’ service learning activities addressed 14 of the 21 needs. Further collaborative dialogue resulted in re-grouping the needs into six themes accompanied by a planned collaborative response by both community and student learning to address all 21 needs previously identified.

 

Conclusion: Undergraduate students’ service learning in communities has the potential to meet community identified needs especially when participatory action research strategies are implemented. Reciprocity exists when university and community co-engage to construct, reflect and adjust responsive service learning. This has the potential to create a collaborative environment and process in which trust, accountability, inclusion and communication is possible between the university and the community.

 

 

African Journal of Disability, Vol 8, 2019

Access to water and sanitation in Ghana for persons with disabilities : findings of a KAP survey

DRAFOR, I
JONES, H
2008

Expand view

This paper presents the knowledge, attitudes and practices of West Africa Water Initiative partners in issues of disability and accessibility in WATSAN services and programs. The main findings were that partners were aware of the disadvantages and lacked experience and technical skills in dealing with issues of people with disabilities. They recognised that WATSAN facilities were often difficult to access. Practical ideas and suggestions are provided to address these problems. The information from this study also helped in the designing of a training workshop for West Africa Water Initiative (WAWI) partners and people with disabilities in some of these practical approaches


33rd WEDC International Conference
Accra, Ghana
2008 

Disabled people and the internet : experiences, barriers and opportunities

PILLING, Doria
BARRET, Paul
FLOYD, Mike
2004

Expand view

This report explores how provision of goods and services over the Internet affects people’s lives. While the Internet might have some capability to provide goods, services and communication at a distance, improving access in doing so, some research findings in the early days of e-commerce suggested diminished access for some groups.
This research focuses on the impact of the Internet on people with disabilities. There is the possibility that provision of information and services through the Internet might actually narrow rather than widen choices, because it might lead to the phasing out of traditional ways of providing services preferred by some disabled people

E-bulletin