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Purpose: This paper aimed to provide an overview of the evaluation of the GRID Network (Groups for Rehabilitation and Inclusive Development) and the impact it had on its members.

Method:  Information was collected through a compilation of the resources developed during the project, and a summative evaluation process was employed at the end of the project. The paper is a short report on the summative evaluation.

Results: GRID Network members reported that the network was effective and beneficial. They developed new information and knowledge that was relevant to their local contexts; shared knowledge from local, national, and international sources; and, increased their skill in using social media for professional purposes. Recommendations include continuing with this kind of community of practice, with greater opportunities for more engagement and training; inclusion of more partner organisations; large group workshops and conferences; increased attention to advocacy for policy change; and, for more research to be carried out locally.

Conclusion and Implications: This project demonstrated that it is possible to develop and maintain a community of practice in a low-resource context on a minimal budget, even during times of political crisis. Further programme development, evaluation, and research are warranted to ascertain how this model can be scaled up to include a broader group of rehabilitation and other practitioners involved in disability inclusive development.

Disability, CBR & Inclusive Development, [S.l.], v. 30, n. 2, p. 84-94,  (2019)

This handbook was developed to guide action on ensuring full compliance with the right to education. The aim of this handbook is to facilitate the realisation and universal enjoyment of the right to education. Its objective is not to present the right to education as an abstract, conceptual, or purely legal concept, but rather to be action-oriented. Where possible, practical guidance is given on how to implement and monitor the right to education along with recommendations to overcome persistent barriers. 

The section on special protection of the right of education of marginalised groups contains content concerning people with disabilities. Access to education is also covered.

Gloria Anzaldúa’s writing has been read as decolonial based on her resistance to dominant national, racial, and cultural formations. This essay turns to unpublished documents from the Gloria Anzaldúa archive that are decolonial at a more fundamental level. In autobiographical writings about her own experiences with disability, as well as doodles and figure drawings, the alternate forms of human life that Anzaldúa depicts defy the logics of identification and differentiation that underlie colonial hierarchies. Refusing to fix bodies with labels, Anzaldúa accepted mystical encounters and inter-species minglings without judgment. She experienced her own disabling conditions (including a severe hormone imbalance and Type 1 diabetes) in the epistemological fold between medical diagnoses (which enforce the coloniality of power, knowledge, and being) and trans-corporeal perceptions that defy empirical analysis. I analyze the ways in which these more capacious ways of being resonate with recent developments in posthumanist theory and disability ethics.

Disability & the Global South (DGS), 2019, Vol. 6 No. 1

This article discusses sexuality and sexual rights of persons with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities. I will address the issue by reflecting on my own previous negligence about the issue, and unpack the ethics of sexuality of persons with profound intellectual disability in the light of ethnographic observation and interview data. I will discuss the significance of cognitive and communicative capacities as regards sexual rights as well as the boundaries of ethically justified facilitation of sex. I will also analyse the definition of sex and its ethical implications. Finally, I will offer some reflections on how we should consider more carefully in research the sexuality of persons with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities in order to enhance in practice their sexual fulfilment.

This guidebook was produced to build the capacity of Communities of Practice members on inclusive Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR). IIRR and Give2Asia hope that this guidebook will help CBOs in Asia make their disaster preparedness programs more inclusive and sensitive to the needs of vulnerable groups in communities.

There are 3 parts: 

Part 1: Principles and practice of inclusion in DRRM and disaster preparedness 

Part 2: Dimensions of Inclusive Disaster Preparedness

Part 3: Practical tools and strategies in inclusive disaster preparedness - including: Hazard vulnerability and capacity assessment; Early warning system and Emergency preparedness

This guidebook aims to:

1. Enable partner CBOs to delve into strategic planning, approaches and tools on Inclusive DRR;

2. Provide alternative learning avenues for sectors to shift paradigm: from looking at excluded groups as “the recipient, or an object” into a more equitable gender-fair and humane categorization, such as intervenors or pro-actors;

3. Provide samples of standard platforms and protocols on inclusive disaster risk assessment, structural framework, gender-mainstreaming and paralegal support systems

4. Develop a community of learning (COL) in sharing inclusion on rights, advocacy, livelihoods, and entitlements

Purpose: At least 5% of people in Australia and the USA have cognitive impairment and require support for decision-making. This paper details a research program whereby an evidence-based Support for Decision Making Practice Framework has been developed for those who support people with cognitive disabilities to make their own decisions across life domains.

Methods: The La Trobe framework was derived from a research program modeled on the Medical Research Council four-phase approach to development and evaluation of complex interventions. We completed phase one (development) by: (1) systematically reviewing peer-reviewed literature; and (2) undertaking qualitative exploration of the experience of support for decision-making from the perspectives of people with cognitive disabilities and their supporters through seven grounded theory studies. Results of phase two (feasibility and piloting) involving direct support workers and health professionals supported phase three (evaluation) and four (implementation), currently underway.

Results: The framework outlines the steps, principles, and strategies involved in support for decision-making. It focuses on understanding the will and preferences of people with cognitive disabilities and guides those who provide support including families, support workers, guardians, and health professionals.

Conclusions: This framework applies across diverse contemporary contexts and is the first evidence-based guide to support for decision-making.

The Washington Group Questions on Disability are rapidly emerging as the preferred data collection methodology by the global community for national data collection efforts on disability. However, more and more development and humanitarian actors are now using the methodology in their own data collection efforts. This is beyond the original purpose of the questions, which was to generate usable data for governments. Leonard Cheshire and Humanity & Inclusion, two international charities focussed on disability and inclusion, have worked together to share learnings of recent research studies. These studies aim to understand how the Washington Group Questions (WGQ) have been used by development and humanitarian actors and the impact of using the methodology. This summary report outlines the key findings, analysis and conclusions about the application of the Washington Group Questions in a range of contexts. The report concludes with a number of recommendations for different stakeholders.

Between June 1 and August 18, 2018, Kerala experienced the worst floods ever since 1924. The torrential rains triggered several landslides and forced the release of excess water from 37 dams across the state, aggravating the flood impact. Nearly 341 landslides were reported from 10 districts. The devastating floods and landslides affected 5.4 million people, displaced 1.4 million people, and took 433 lives. The Government reports that 1,259 out of 1,664 villages spread across the state’s 14 districts were affected.  The floods and landslides caused extensive damage to house, roads, railways, bridges, power supplies, communications networks, and other infrastructure; washed away crops and livestock. The Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) conducted by the UN under the leadership of the Government of Kerala estimates the total Recovery needs to be at USD 4.4 billion.

The PDNA is the global methodology developed by the UN, the World Bank and the European Union to assess damage and loss in the wake of disaster and to recommend the recovery needs and strategies. In all, 76 experts from 10 UN agencies and European Union across 13 sectors collaborated to develop the report in 20 days. The UN agencies included, UNDP, UNICEF, UNESCO, UN Women, UNFPA, UNEP, WHO, WFP, ILO and FAO.

An inclusive and people centred approach is a pillar of the policy framework for recovery and the effects on people with disabilities are briefly assessed. Over 8,600 PWDs are reported to have been impacted by this disaster

Aim: The aim is to assess whether the national policy for evidence-based rehabilitation with a focus on facilitating return-to-work is being implemented in health-care units in Sweden and which factors influence its implementation.

Methods: A survey design was used to investigate the implementation. Data were collected at county council management level (process leaders) and clinical level (clinicians in primary and secondary care) using web surveys. Data were analyzed using SPSS, presented as descriptive statistics.

Results: The response rate among the process leaders was 88% (n = 30). Twenty-eight percent reported that they had already introduced workplace interventions. A majority of the county councils’ process leaders responded that the national policy was not clearly defined. The response rate among clinicians was 72% (n = 580). Few clinicians working with patients with common mental disorders or musculoskeletal disorders responded that they were in contact with a patient’s employer, the occupational health services or the employment office (9–18%). Nearly, all clinicians responded that they often/always discuss work-related problems with their patients.

Conclusions: The policy had been implemented or was to be implemented before the end of 2015. Lack of clearly stated goals, training, and guidelines were, however, barriers to implementation.