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Reflection on the 30th Anniversary of the ADA in time of mass uncertainty

LeBLANC, Nicole
October 2020

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Nicole LeBlanc, a disability rights activist, talks about the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and what she hopes for the next 30 years. Areas highlighted on the road to achieving equality and equity for all include health and health services, housing, flexible working, vocational rehabilitation and disaster preparedness.

A systematic review of the cost-effectiveness of emergency interventions for stroke in low- and middle-income countries

BARBOSA, Euridxe
et al
June 2020

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This systematic review surveys the existing evidence surrounding the cost-effectiveness of interventions to address acute stroke in LMIC settings. Five databases were searched for articles related to the cost-effectiveness of emergency care interventions to treat acute stroke in LMICs.

 

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.afjem.2020.05.009

 

African Journal of Emergency Medicine

Available online 11 June 2020
 

Policy brief: Access to assistive technology

WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION (WHO)
2020

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This brief is for policy-makers in any ministry involved in designing assistive technology policies and programmes (such as ministries of health, finance and social welfare), especially those involved in designing universal health coverage programmes. It is also relevant for all stakeholders working in these areas. The brief highlights key challenges in ensuring equitable access to high-quality, affordable assistive technology and suggests actions to improve access within universal health coverage or any other national health/welfare programme.

Impact of transition to an individualised funding model on allied health support of participation opportunities

FOLEY, Kristen
ATTRILL, Stacie
MCALLISTER, Sue
BREBNER, Chris
February 2019

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Introduction: The National Disability Insurance Scheme is the new consumer-controlled funding system for people with disability in Australia, and is expected to enhance participation outcomes of people with disability. This research explored participation opportunities for people with disability during the formative period of transition to the scheme, through stakeholder accounts of changes in allied health service contexts.

 

Materials and methods: Qualitative data were generated during interviews, workshops and meetings with industry, policy, practice and education stakeholders involved in scheme services. Inductive coding explored key themes within the data. The International Classification of Functioning model was then applied as a deductive coding framework to illuminate how the scheme was perceived to be impacting participation opportunities for recipients of scheme funding.

 

Results and discussion: Using the International Classification of Functioning helped us illuminate whether changes resulting from scheme transition posed participation opportunities or barriers for scheme recipients. Research participants often framed these changes negatively, even when examples suggested that changes had removed participation barriers for scheme recipients. Some participants viewed changes as obstructing equitable and quality professional practice. We explore potential opportunities to resolve tensions that also optimise the participation outcomes of individuals who receive services through individualised funding.

Access to social protection among people with disabilities: Evidence from Viet Nam

BANKS, Lena
et al
January 2019

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This study uses mixed methods to explore participation in disability‐targeted and non‐targeted social protection programmes in Viet Nam, particularly in the district of Cam Le. Following an overview of social protection in Viet Nam, and in addition to presenting quantitative measures of access, this article identifies challenges and facilitators to participation in social protection.

A mixed‐methods approach was used to evaluate the extent to which people with disabilities are accessing existing social protection programmes, including an evaluation of the effects of barriers and facilitators to access. First, a national policy analysis was conducted to provide an overview of available social protection entitlements, and how their design and implementation may affect access for people with disabilities. Second, qualitative and quantitative research was conducted in one district of Viet Nam to measure coverage and uptake of specific entitlements and to explore factors influencing access in greater depth.

 

International Social Security Review,Vol. 72, 1/2019
https://doi.org/10.1111/issr.12195

Disability and conditional social security benefits : Journal of Poverty and Social Justice, special issue, vol. 25, no.2, June 2017

GEIGER, Ben Baumberg
Ed
July 2017

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This special issue of the Journal of Poverty & Social Justice has two aims. Firstly to provide new evidence on the implementation and impacts of conditionality for disabled benefits claimants in order to provide an empirical foundation for the contested claims on both sides of this debate and secondly to prompt further research in this area. 

Article titles in this issue are:

  • Benefits conditionality for disabled people: stylised facts from a review of international evidence and practice
  • Does sanctioning disabled claimants of unemployment insurance increase labour market inactivity? An analysis of 346 British local authorities between 2009 and 2014 
  • Consequences of activation policy targeting young adults with health-related problems in Sweden and Denmark
  • Assessment of work ability in competing strands of social insurance: the German case 
  • Welfare conditionality and disabled people in the UK: claimants' perspectives
  • The bedroom tax in the Supreme Court: implications of the judgment 

Right to health: Reality of persons with spina bifida and hydrocephalus

MCPHERSON. Amy
January 2017

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"This report maps the situation of persons with SBH in relation to healthcare access and is a follow up of the CRPD Concluding Observations Art.25. Through a comprehensive survey, IF collected valuable data on the experiences, satisfaction, and perceptions of healthcare coverage of individuals with SBH across Europe. Based on its findings, the financial coverage of treatment and assistive products for patients with SBH is grossly insufficient across the EU. Europe as a whole lacks multidisciplinary care and specialised SBH teams, which translates into long waiting times and insufficient knowledge of the SBH specificities. 

Considering these findings, IF urges the EU Member States to adequately support the healthcare needs of persons with SBH, and to invest more substantially into creating multidisciplinary clinics that can help avoid preventable complications 11 and may reduce the overall burden 12 on the patient and the system. In addition, the Member States should actively support creation of the European Reference Networks as a way of improving care for persons with SBH. IF also calls on the European institutions for support in training medical professionals on rights of persons with disabilities."

Inequalities in access to health care for people with disabilities in Chile: the limits of universal health coverage

ROTAROU, Elena S
SAKELLARIOU, Dikaios
2017

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We analysed cross-sectional data collected as part of the National Socioeconomic Characterisation Survey (2013) in Chile, in order to explore if there are differences in access to health care between adult Chileans with and without disability. The study included 7459 Chilean adults with disability and 68,695 people without disability. Logistic regressions were performed in order to determine the adjusted odds ratios for the associated variables. We found that despite universal health coverage, Chileans with disabilities are more likely to report worse access to health care, even when controlling for socio-economic and demographic variables, including age, gender and income. Specifically, they are more likely to face greater difficulty arriving at a health facility, obtaining a doctor’s appointment, being attended to in a health facility, paying for treatment due to cost, and obtaining necessary medicine. Both people with and without disability are more likely to face difficulties in accessing health services if they are affiliated with the public health provider, an indication of the economic factors at play in accessing health care. This study shows that universal health coverage does not always lead to accessibility of health services and underlines the disadvantaged position of disabled people in Chile in accessing health services. While efforts have been made recently to improve equity in health care access, disability in Chile poses an additional burden on people’s access to health care, emphasising the necessity for policy to address this perpetual cycle of disadvantage for disabled people.

Mental health funding and the SDGs What now and who pays?

MACKENZIE, Jessica
KESNER, Christie
May 2016

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"This report provides an overview of who is currently funding mental health and who isn’t, but could be. It is a synthesis of research previously conducted in this field and analyses both existing and new funders. It highlights how little information there is on what donors are spending on mental health globally, what types of activities are funded and why funding mental health delivers a variety of benefits, and it suggests how to frame the issue to encourage more investment".

Health financing country diagnostic: a foundation for national strategy development

MCINTYRE, Diane
KUTZIN, Joseph
2016

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Health systems’ analysis is not an exact science in the sense that it is not a case of calculating an indicator and comparing that to a target that is set in stone. Instead, the analysis rests on describing elements of the existing system and critically assessing this on the basis of a clear understanding of health financing policy, the objectives associated with UHC, and relevant comparisons with and lessons from other countries. The paper attempts to provide guidance on how this can be done by highlighting the key issues that should be considered and some of the specific questions that should be addressed. It is not intended to provide a strict chapter-bychapter outline for a system assessment, but instead to foster and guide a systematic approach to the analysis of the health financing system. The health financing country diagnostic is written for Ministries of Health, advisors and others actors responsible for developing and implementing health financing policies, and provides step-by-step guidance on how to undertake a situation analysis of a country’s health financing system. Topics considered include: key contextual factors that influence health financing policy and attainment of policy goals; overview of health expenditure patterns; review of health financing arrangements; analysis UHC goals and intermediate objectives; and overall assessment - priorities for health financing reform.

Public financing for health in Africa: from Abuja to the SDGs

BARROY, Helene
VAN DE MAELE, Nathalie
MUSANGO, Laurent
HSU, Justine
et al
2016

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"This report takes stock of the main public financing for health trends over the past fifteen years in the African region, and highlights opportunities for accelerated progress toward universal health coverage (UHC) based on better-informed budget planning and utilization decisions. The report presents new evidence on the critical role played by domestic public financial management systems on the level, effectiveness and quality of public spending on health in Africa. It argues that these systems should be reconsidered if countries are to move towards UHCCountry experience in reforming public finance systems to support progress towards UHC indicates that success depends on more than simply increasing the level of public budgets. Rather, it requires appropriately targeted health budget allocations, complete execution of health’s public budgets, and improved efficiency in the use of public resources for health.

The report is composed of three sections. The first section is articulated around three policy highlights: aligning budget resources and health priorities; closing the gap between health budget allocation and expenditure; and maximizing UHC performance with the money available. Section 2 is dedicated to providing detailed health financing information on countries, and includes 48 country profiles focused on key health financing trends. The last section includes information on progress towards the development of health financing strategies in the region, as well as regional and country benchmarks on key health financing indicators"

WHO/HIS/HGF/Tech.Report/16.2

Stroke Rehabilitation in the Philippines: An Audit Study

Gonzalez–Suarez, Consuelo
et al
2015

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Purpose: Although cerebrovascular accident is a leading cause of mortality in the Philippines, there has never been a national survey of stroke client descriptors and rehabilitation practices. This paper reports on data from the audit of stroke care for inpatients in hospitals serviced by physiatrists.

 

Method: Audit was done of the medical records of stroke clients admitted to hospitals with rehabilitation units. Performance indicators for timely referral to rehabilitation were applied.

 

Results: A total of 1683 records were audited. The majority of clients had cerebral infarct followed by cerebral haemorrhage. The median length of stay was 7 days; stay was lengthier for haemorrhagic strokes. Only 54.1% of the clients were referred to rehabilitation, with a median delay of 3 days between admission and referral to rehabilitation. 25.4% of the clients had early referral to rehabilitation. 39.2% of the 1397 clients were referred to rehabilitation earlier than 2 days before discharge.

 

Conclusion: This Filipino study provides valuable information on stroke types and prevalence, demographics and rehabilitation practices. Despite the prevalence of post-stroke rehabilitation, it has been underutilised in the management of stroke.

The economic lives of people with disabilities in Vietnam

PALMER, M
GROCE, N
MONT, D
NGUYEN, O H
MITRA, S
July 2015

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Through a series of focus group discussions conducted in northern and central Vietnam, this study gives voice to the lived economic experience of families with disabilities and how
they manage the economic challenges associated with disability. The dynamic of low and unstable income combined with on-going health care and other disability-related costs
gives rise to a range of coping mechanisms (borrowing, reducing and foregoing expenditures, drawing upon savings and substituting labour) that helps to maintain living standards
in the short-run yet threatens the longer-term welfare of both the individual with disability and their household. Current social protection programs were reported as not accessible to
all and while addressing some immediate economic costs of disability, do not successfully meet current needs nor accommodate wider barriers to availing benefits.

Financial Access to Healthcare among Persons with Disabilities in the Kumasi Metropolis, Ghana

Badu, Eric
Opoku, Maxwell Peprah
Appiah, Seth Christopher Yaw
Agyei-Okyere, Elvis
2015

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Purpose: According to the World Health Organisation, 10% to 15% of the population of every developing country lives with disability. This amounts to about 2.4 - 3.6 million Ghanaians with disability. Since their contribution is important for the development of the country, this study aimed to assess the financial access to healthcare among persons with disabilities in the Kumasi Metropolis of Ghana.

 

Methods: A cross-sectional study, involving administration of a semi- structured questionnaire, was conducted among persons with all kinds of disabilities (physically challenged, hearing and visually impaired) in the Kumasi Metropolis. Multi-stage sampling was used to randomly select 255 persons with disabilities from 5 clusters of communities - Oforikrom, Subin, Asewase, Tafo and Asokwa. Data analysis involved descriptive and analytical statistics at 95% CI using SPSS software version 20.

 

Results: There were more male than female participants, nearly one-third of them had no formal education and 28.6% were unemployed. The average monthly expenditure on healthcare was GHC 21.46 (USD 6.0) which constituted 9.8% of the respondents’ income. Factors such as age, gender, disability type, education, employment, and whether or not they stayed with family members had significant bearing on the average monthly expenses on healthcare (p<0.05).Transportation cost, the travel distance to facilities, and the regular sources of payment for healthcare, had significant relationship with access to healthcare (p<0.05). Although about 63.5% of the respondents used the National Health Insurance Scheme as the regular source of payment for healthcare, 94.1% reported that sources of payment did not cover all their expenses and equipment.

 

Conclusion: Financial access to healthcare remains a major challenge for persons with disabilities. Measures to finance all healthcare expenses of persons with disabilities are urgently needed to improve their access to healthcare.

Can households cope with health shocks in Vietnam?

MITRA, S
PALMER, M
MONT, D
GROCE, N
May 2015

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"This paper investigates the economic impact of health shocks on working-age adults in Vietnam during 2004-2008, using a fixed effects specification. Health shocks cover disability and morbidity and are measured by 'days unable to carry out regular activity', 'days in bed due to illness/injury', and 'hospitalization'. Overall, Vietnamese households are able to smooth total non-health expenditures in the short run in the face of a significant rise in out-of-pocket health expenditures. However, this is accomplished through vulnerability-enhancing mechanisms, especially in rural areas, including increased loans and asset sales and decreased education expenditures. Female-headed and rural households are found to be the least able to protect consumption. Results highlight the need to extend and deepen social protection and universal health coverage."

2015 global reference list of 100 core health indicators

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO)
2015

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“The Global Reference List of 100 Core Health Indicators is a standard set of 100 indicators prioritized by the global community to provide concise information on the health situation and trends, including responses at national and global levels. It contains indicators of relevance to country, regional and global reporting across the spectrum of global health priorities relating to the post-2015 health goals of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These include the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) agenda, new and emerging priorities such as noncommunicable diseases, universal health coverage and other issues in the post-2015 development agenda.”

Understanding financial access to physical and functional rehabilitation services in developing countries.

LETOURMY, Alain
July 2014

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"This document is an overview aimed at providing an understanding of the economics of the physical and functional rehabilitation system. It is the first part of a study aimed at giving Handicap International’s teams in the field a tool for diagnosing the economic system for physical and functional rehabilitation, starting with West Africa. The proposed diagnostic tool will be the subject of another publication. The study was done in two stages. First, an analysis of the economic system for physical and functional rehabilitation was done and this led to an initial draft of a tool. Starting from that draft, a study done in Burkina Faso then helped to clarify many points and give a concrete picture of the concepts which would be useful in carrying out the analysis. This report is devoted to providing an economic analysis of the physical and functional rehabilitation system"
 

Universal health coverage for inclusive and sustainable development. A synthesis of 11 country case studies.

MAEDA, Akiko
ARAUJO, Edson
CASHIN, Cheryl
HARRIS, Joseph
IKEGAMI, Naoki
REICH, Michael R.
et al
2014

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Universal health coverage (UHC) for inclusive and sustainable development synthesises the experiences from 11 countries—Bangladesh, Brazil, Ethiopia, France, Ghana, Indonesia, Japan, Peru, Thailand, Turkey, and Vietnam—in implementing policies and strategies to achieve and sustain UHC. These countries represent diverse geographic and economic conditions, but all have committed to UHC as a key national aspiration and are approaching it in different ways. The UHC policies for each country are examined around three common themes: (1) the political economy and policy process for adopting, achieving, and sustaining UHC; (2) health financing policies to enhance health coverage; and (3) human resources for health policies for achieving UHC. The path to UHC is specific to each country, but countries can benefit from experiences of others and avoid potential risks

Nonparametric estimation of a compensating variation : the cost of disability

HANCOCK, Ruth
MORCIANO, Marcello
PUDNEY, Stephen
December 2013

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This paper proposes a nonparametric matching approach to estimation of implicit costs based on the compensating variation (CV) principle. The paper aims to introduce the matching approach, compare its properties with those of the conventional indirect parametric approach, and demonstrate its application in an important policy area. The authors apply the method to estimate the additional personal costs experienced by disabled older people in Great Britain, finding that those costs are substantial, averaging in the range £48-61 a week, compared with the mean level of state disability benefit (£28) or total public support (£47) received. Estimated costs rise strongly with the severity of disability. The authors compare the nonparametric approach with the standard parametric method, finding that the latter tends to generate large overestimates unless conditions are ideal, and recommend the nonparametric approach

ISER Working Paper Series, No. 2013-26

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