The Australian National Disability Insurance Scheme and People With Disabilities From CALD Backgrounds

The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is considered to be the second greatest reform in healthcare in Australia after the introduction of Medicare in Australia in 1983. This reform was introduced in 2012 in two phases. The first phase as a trial took place for three years. The expectation was that the reform will be rolled out by 2019 or 2020. This article argues that the trial implementation process has achieved very positive outcomes in the lives of a great number of people with disability in Australia. At the same time, NDIS is facing many serious challenges in some areas. One of the obvious challenges is that this reform is a market approached reform. The second challenge relates to meeting the needs of minorities. People with disabilities from Culturally and Linguistically Divers (CALD) backgrounds are one of the five most venerable, underutilised users of NDIS services in Australia. They have no strong voice and negotiable abilities. The main question here is how NDIS is to meet its commitment to satisfy the needs of these vulnerable people in Australia.

Social Provision of Disabled People in Welfare States: the Scope of Social Benefits and Anti-Crisis Regulation. Part 2

The article consists of two separate publications (Part 1 and Part 2) and analyses social security policy towards people with disability at working age in developed welfare states (social-democratic, conservative-corporatist and neoliberal regimes). Part 2 analyses reform strategies of state assistance programmes for disabled people on the basis of international research as well as statistical data of the EU and OECD for the past 30 years, while considering the changes in the economic climate. The article attends for the funding: expenditures for the programmes (as percentage of GDP and per capita) during periods of economic growth, the 2008–2009 crisis and the following decade. The connection between cyclic economic changes and the number of people with disability is considered. The author examines the combination of approaches to anticrisis management and the dynamics of public spending on programmes for people with disabilities as well as on alternative support schemes and social security in general. The author analyses the level of social protection of people with disability: poverty and inequality data based on research data and self-administered health condition evaluation. The article discusses the factors which mitigate the negative effects of the reforms, contribute to the reduction of social tension or, on the contrary, decrease social security in the long-term perspective.

Social Provision of Disabled People in Welfare States: the Scope of Social Benefits and Anti-Crisis Regulation. Part 2

The article consists of two separate publications (Part 1 and Part 2) and analyses social security policy towards people with disability at working age in developed welfare states (social-democratic, conservative-corporatist and neoliberal regimes). Part 2 analyses reform strategies of state assistance programmes for disabled people on the basis of international research as well as statistical data of the EU and OECD for the past 30 years, while considering the changes in the economic climate. The article attends for the funding: expenditures for the programmes (as percentage of GDP and per capita) during periods of economic growth, the 2008–2009 crisis and the following decade. The connection between cyclic economic changes and the number of people with disability is considered. The author examines the combination of approaches to anticrisis management and the dynamics of public spending on programmes for people with disabilities as well as on alternative support schemes and social security in general. The author analyses the level of social protection of people with disability: poverty and inequality data based on research data and self-administered health condition evaluation. The article discusses the factors which mitigate the negative effects of the reforms, contribute to the reduction of social tension or, on the contrary, decrease social security in the long-term perspective.

The Future of Positive Psychology and Disability

For much of the history of the application of psychology to disability, the research and clinical focus of the field was deficits-oriented: documenting what people with disability could not do, proposing theories of why they could not do these things, creating measures to assess this incapacity and incompetence, and building interventions and treatments predicated on disease and pathology. It has been only in the last few decades that conceptualizations of disability allowed for consideration of strengths and positive attributes along with the presence of disability and only in the past two decades that a positive psychology of disability has emerged. This article will briefly summarize the factors that led to the emergence of a focus on the positive psychology of disability and a strength-based approach in the field, examine the state of knowledge and practice as it pertains to the positive psychology of disability, and will examine challenges that serve as barriers to progress in this area and opportunities for advancement. Among these is examining how “optimal human functioning” can be understood in ways that includes, and not excludes, people with disability. The importance of shifting the disability research and practice focus to emphasize flourishing, well-being, and self-determination of and for people with disability will be discussed, as well as the necessity for the field of positive psychology to more aggressively reach out to include people with disability among those populations whom the field values and includes.

Disability, Education and Development Perspectives from Tokelau

<p>This thesis is concerned with the issue of people with disability accessing education. The contemporary international dialogue about how best to include people with disability in education recommends developing regular education systems to cater for the full diverse range of learners' needs and abilities. This approach is part of an Inclusive Education philosophy and is designed as a response to all populations who experience exclusion from education, including people with disability. By examining people's opinions, experiences, attitudes, aspirations, perceptions, knowledge, and understanding about disability, education and development, this thesis aims to identify the challenges of including people with disability in education and society in the context of a small Pacific Island developng nation, and the ways in which these challenges can be addressed. In doing so, it contributes to the growing body of literature which raises awareness of the experiences of exclusion faced by people with impairments; as well as the literature exploring disability issues from a social and rights-based perspective in developing countries. Semi-formal interviews were conducted with ten participants from Tokelau, New Zealand and Samoa to garner traditional, modern and personal perspectives about disability, education and development. The main findings of the research are that although disability is still predominantly understood within a medical, religious or deficit-model paradigm in Tokelau, some historical attitudinal barriers to inclusion may be shifting. This is occurring as people become better informed about disability through education, personal experiences and awareness of the causes of disability. Consequently, there is some indication that the younger generation are less likely to stigmatise the cause of disability because of their exposure to scientific explanations and increased familiarity and comfort with human rights concepts. People in Tokelau called for raising public awareness about disability causes and issues. Another finding of the research is that although there is a perception from some that the rhetoric of human rights is demanding and antithetical to the culture, responsibility is more easily accepted because it is considered in line with traditional communal values and social systems of support like inati (sharing of resources). Terminology aside, the concepts involved in Inclusive Education reflect traditional Tokelauan beliefs about treating people equally and with fakaaloalo (respect), alofa (love) and poupouaki (support). Although the inclusion of disability issues into the international human rights framework through the UN 2006 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is not yet widely known in Tokelau, human rights concepts are beginning to be introduced and understood at the community level, and they are seen in the constitutional documents and education policies of Tokelau. Support and partnership from New Zealand is welcomed in enabling locally developed inclusive services in Tokelau. Overall, the research suggested that inclusive philosophies and approaches within the education system in Tokelau are emerging, and that it is an opportune time to develop capacity and services for ensuring that people with impairments can access education. Despite material and human resourcing difficulties, there is a general willingness to include people with impairments in society and a strong preference for a collaborative community wide approach.</p>

Disability, Education and Development Perspectives from Tokelau

<p>This thesis is concerned with the issue of people with disability accessing education. The contemporary international dialogue about how best to include people with disability in education recommends developing regular education systems to cater for the full diverse range of learners' needs and abilities. This approach is part of an Inclusive Education philosophy and is designed as a response to all populations who experience exclusion from education, including people with disability. By examining people's opinions, experiences, attitudes, aspirations, perceptions, knowledge, and understanding about disability, education and development, this thesis aims to identify the challenges of including people with disability in education and society in the context of a small Pacific Island developng nation, and the ways in which these challenges can be addressed. In doing so, it contributes to the growing body of literature which raises awareness of the experiences of exclusion faced by people with impairments; as well as the literature exploring disability issues from a social and rights-based perspective in developing countries. Semi-formal interviews were conducted with ten participants from Tokelau, New Zealand and Samoa to garner traditional, modern and personal perspectives about disability, education and development. The main findings of the research are that although disability is still predominantly understood within a medical, religious or deficit-model paradigm in Tokelau, some historical attitudinal barriers to inclusion may be shifting. This is occurring as people become better informed about disability through education, personal experiences and awareness of the causes of disability. Consequently, there is some indication that the younger generation are less likely to stigmatise the cause of disability because of their exposure to scientific explanations and increased familiarity and comfort with human rights concepts. People in Tokelau called for raising public awareness about disability causes and issues. Another finding of the research is that although there is a perception from some that the rhetoric of human rights is demanding and antithetical to the culture, responsibility is more easily accepted because it is considered in line with traditional communal values and social systems of support like inati (sharing of resources). Terminology aside, the concepts involved in Inclusive Education reflect traditional Tokelauan beliefs about treating people equally and with fakaaloalo (respect), alofa (love) and poupouaki (support). Although the inclusion of disability issues into the international human rights framework through the UN 2006 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is not yet widely known in Tokelau, human rights concepts are beginning to be introduced and understood at the community level, and they are seen in the constitutional documents and education policies of Tokelau. Support and partnership from New Zealand is welcomed in enabling locally developed inclusive services in Tokelau. Overall, the research suggested that inclusive philosophies and approaches within the education system in Tokelau are emerging, and that it is an opportune time to develop capacity and services for ensuring that people with impairments can access education. Despite material and human resourcing difficulties, there is a general willingness to include people with impairments in society and a strong preference for a collaborative community wide approach.</p>

Health and Access to Health Services for People with Disability in Australia: Data and Data Gaps

The right of people with disability to enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health without discrimination on the basis of disability is enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Among its obligations as a signatory to the CRPD, Australia is required to collect appropriate information, including statistical and research data, to inform development and implementation of policies to give effect to the Convention. In this commentary, we first describe how the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) conceptual model of disability can be operationalised in statistical data collections, with a focus on how this is achieved in key Australian data sources such that people with disability can be identified as a population group. We then review existing statistical data on health and health service use for people with disability in Australia, highlighting data gaps and limitations. Finally, we outline priorities and considerations for improving data on health and access to health services for people with disability. As well as conceptual, practical, and ethical considerations, a key principle that must guide future disability data development is that people with disability and their representative organisations must be involved and participate fully in the development of disability data and statistics, and in their use.

Examining the Psychological Health Quality of Life of Older People with Disability in Selected Districts in Ghana

Older people in Ghana suffer from a wide range of disabilities including visual, physical, and hearing with serious ramifications on their quality of life. Therefore, this paper examines the psychological health quality of life (PHQOL) of older people with disability in selected Districts in the Upper West Region of Ghana. Through a census survey, questionnaires were used to obtain data from 810 respondents.Independent-samples t-test and one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were used to examine their PHQOL. The results showed that mean scores in PHQOL were highest among those aged 60-69 and lowest for those aged 80 years and older with a significant difference [F (807) = 23.872 value, p = 0.000] in PHQOL of their ages. Those who were married had the highest PHQOL mean score compared with those who were separated / divorced and widowed with significant difference [F (807) = 42.690 value, p = 0.000] noticed in PHQOL across marital statuses. Also, those with physical disability had a higher mean score in PHQOL than those with visual disability. The study concludes that any geriatric policy interventions aimed at improving the PHQOL of older people with disability ought not to downplay their background characteristics as they underpin their PHQOL.