Cross-national study of communal attitudes toward individuals with intellectual disabilities in sub-Saharan Africa: Cameroon vs. Ghana

Parenting Style and Mental Health of Parents Raising Children with Intellectual Disabilities in Ghana

Parenting style adopted by parents is believed to impact parental well-being and development of children including those with intellectual disabilities. While there is large body of literature on parenting style adopted by parents raising children with intellectual disabilities, especially in the western context, limited attempt has been made to understand parental styles and their relationships with the mental health of parents. In this study, a total of 200 parents raising children with intellectual disabilities completed the Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire, Depression, Anxiety and Stress scale (DASS-21) and the Financial Stress Scale. The instrument was subjected to correlations and hierarchical multiple regressions. The results showed contribution of mental health in the variance in parenting style. For instance, general stress, anxiety and financial stress made significant contribution in the variance in authoritarian parenting style. Also, general stress, anxiety and financial stress made significant contribution in the variance in authoritative parenting style. Additionally, a relationship was found between permissive parenting, depression, general stress and financial stress. The study concludes with a recommendation for targeted parenting and mental health training for parents raising children with intellectual disabilities in Ghana.

Healthy ageing for older adult people with intellectual disability: a scoping review

BACKGROUND

The increasing longevity of people with intellectual disability creates a need for a healthy-ageing perspective, translated into evidence-based interventions in this multi-morbidity group. Accordingly, the aim of this scoping review was to identify, summarise and analyse the empirical research on healthy ageing in older adults with intellectual disability.

METHODS

This review was based on the PRISMA 2020 guidelines for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) and a PICO protocol (Patient/population, Intervention, Comparison/control, and Outcome). Empirical studies in English were included if they concerned older adults with intellectual disability with an average age of at least 45 and were based on a clearly expressed healthy-ageing perspective. An information specialist conducted a search in 11 databases with no geographical or temporal restrictions. Two independent researchers performed study selection, quality assessment and data extraction. Disagreements were resolved in consultation with a third researcher. A textual narrative synthesis was based on PICO domains and the seven research questions.

RESULTS

The 11 studies were all from developed countries and had different designs: qualitative, mixed-method and one systematic review. Only three studies highlighted the term "healthy ageing", most used synonymous terms. Eight studies focused on healthy ageing on the individual level, three on the organisational and societal level. The intervention studies in the systematic review were mainly nonrandomised, concerned interventions varying in intensity and duration, considered different research questions and employed different outcome measures.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings highlight a major knowledge gap concerning evidence-based interventions with a healthy-ageing perspective in the case of older adults with intellectual disability. There is an urgent need to initiate healthy-ageing studies in developing countries, where such people are even more vulnerable to stigma and discrimination than those in developed countries. Our findings confirm the need to scale up healthy-ageing interventions in line with the WHO's ambition to develop evidence-based approaches to optimise the functional capacity of all older people, including older adults with intellectual disability, by 2030.

REGISTRATION

The study is registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO), CRD42022337211 (13 June 2022).

Does preservice teachers' contact with children with intellectual disabilities during their practicum impact their attitudes and teaching practices? "If you don't have the heart, you can't cope … "

BACKGROUND

This study sought to explore the effects of preservice teachers' contact with children with intellectual disabilities on their attitudes. The study was conducted against the backdrop of the exclusion and discrimination experienced by children with intellectual disabilities in Ghanaian schools.

METHOD

Twenty-two preservice teachers who interned at a special school for children with intellectual disabilities were interviewed before and after their practicums, and the gathered data underwent thematic analysis.

RESULTS

There were changes in the participants' knowledge and willingness to interact and work with children with intellectual disabilities. For instance, before the practicum, the participants held stereotypical understandings of intellectual disabilities. However, after their practicums, their level of discussion of the core characteristics of intellectual disabilities had improved.

CONCLUSION

Based on these findings, this study concludes by recommending that contact with children with intellectual disabilities be included as an integral part of preservice teacher training programmes.

From legislation to actual health service: evaluation of health provisions in the disability law of Ghana by adolescents with mobility and visual impairments and their families

BACKGROUND

Despite Ghana's Persons with Disability Act, 2006 (Act 715) making provisions for access to healthcare services for adolescents with disabilities and their families, a corpus of literature has reported that persons with disabilities continue to face challenges in accessing healthcare services. However, the voices of adolescents with disabilities and their families are very scarce in such discourse. This study explored the experiences of adolescents with disabilities and their families in accessing healthcare services as per the provisions described in Ghana's Act 715.

METHODS

This study involved 45 participants, including 25 adolescents with disabilities and 20 family members from a municipality in Ghana. Employing a qualitative descriptive design, semi-structured interviews were conducted which was then analyzed thematically and interpreted using Critical Disability Theory.

RESULTS

The study identified two major categories of barriers to healthcare access: environmental (socio-economic difficulties, poor built environment, unavailability of rehabilitation services) and systemic (cultural beliefs, poor support at healthcare facilities and inadequate healthcare legislative provisions for families of children with disabilities). Despite legal provisions for free healthcare, participants faced significant financial barriers, with specialist services often not covered by the National Health Insurance Scheme.

CONCLUSIONS

The study calls for policy adjustments to fully cover specialist care under Ghana's National Health Insurance Scheme, establishment of local-level health assessment and resource centers, educational campaigns to change cultural perceptions, and training of healthcare workers to promote quality access to healthcare.

Validation of the Persian version of the attitudes toward intellectual disability

BACKGROUND

Attitudes toward individuals with intellectual disability (ID) are the most important factor affecting their social integration and can cause them to experience a sense of achievement or discrimination. The present study aimed to evaluate the latent factor structure and validity of the Persian version of the Attitudes toward Intellectual Disability (ATTID) Short-Form questionnaire.

METHODS

The latent factor structure of the Persian version of the ATTID Short-Form was established in a convenient sample of the general population (N = 280) in Iran. The structural validity and temporal reliability, internal consistency and confirmatory factor analysis were evaluated. Data analysis was done with SPSS v23 Windows edition and R v4.2.1.

RESULTS

The Persian version of the ATTID Short-Form was shown to have a five-factor structure: discomfort, knowledge of capacity, interaction, sensitivity and knowledge of cause. The structure was appropriately fit according to the fit indices (χ2(485) = 530.12), (P-value = 0.077). All the subscales had good temporal reliability.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings suggest that the Persian version of the Short-Form of ATTID is a brief, valid and reliable measure that can be used in research and clinical practice.

Profiles of Peer-Rejected Individuals: Their Attitudes toward the Intellectual Disability Population and the Mediating Role of Resilience

Literature shows that public perceptions toward people with intellectual disability (ID) tend to be negative, perhaps more so than toward any other population with disabilities, causing severe consequences on the quality of life of these people. Understanding factors associated with these attitudes may contribute to better integration of the ID population into society. This study focuses on the predictive role of school-age peer rejection and contemporaneous familial support on attitudes toward people with ID. Specifically, it aims to identify distinct profiles of people who experienced peer rejection during their school years and who experienced various levels of familial support during the rejection period, and to examine the disparities between these profiles regarding attitudes toward people with ID. An additional goal is to examine whether resilience can mediate the association between profiles of peer-rejected individuals and their attitudes toward individuals with ID. The research sample comprised 1063 Israeli adults reporting various levels of peer rejection during school years. Cluster analysis revealed two profiles of peer-rejected individuals that significantly differ in the level of familial support provided in the face of peer rejection. In accordance with the hypotheses, attitudes of peer-rejected individuals with poor familial support were more negative than those with high familial support and the mediating effect of resilience was significant. Findings emphasize the protective role of familial support in the face of peer rejection, contributing to the emerging literature that deals with the long-term effects of peer rejection and poor resiliency resources on negative attitudes toward out-groups.

Attitudes toward people with intellectual disabilities in Norway

Background

We investigated attitudes toward individuals with an intellectual disability (ID) in a Norwegian sample and tested the psychometric properties of a Norwegian translation of the Community Living Attitudes Scale - Intellectual Disability (CLAS-ID).

Method

The sample was 645 adults (M = 41.9 years, SD = 13.8, 80% female). One subgroup had working experience with individuals with an ID (n = 377), and another subgroup had a family member with an ID (n = 133).

Results

The four-factor structure of the CLAS-ID showed good model fit in a confirmatory factor analysis of the Norwegian translation with adequate internal consistency. Participants with working experience with ID or a family member with ID reported more favorable attitudes compared with participants without working experience or without a family member with ID, respectively. Women and older participants reported more positive attitudes compared to men and younger participants.

Conclusion

The Norwegian translation of the CLAS-ID appears to be a valid tool for assessing attitudes toward individuals with an ID. Individuals with first-hand experience with individuals with an ID have more positive attitudes than those without, and women and older people have more positive attitudes than men and younger people.

Hospital disaster preparedness in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review of English literature

BACKGROUND

Disasters are increasing worldwide, with Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) being one of the most prone regions. Hospitals play a key role in disasters. This study provides a systematic review of the evidence on disaster preparedness by hospitals in SSA countries based on English literature.

METHODS

A systematic literature review was conducted of articles published between January 2012 and July 2022. We searched PubMed, Elsevier, Science Direct, Google Scholar, the WHO depository library and CDC sites for English language publications. The key inclusion criteria were: publications should have been published in the above period, deal with hospital disaster preparedness in SSA, the full paper should have been available, and studies should have presented a comparison between hospitals and/or a single hospital.

RESULTS

Results indicate improvements in disaster preparedness over time. However, health systems in SSA are generally considered vulnerable, and they find it difficult to adapt to changing health conditions. Inadequately skilled healthcare professionals, underfunding, poor knowledge, the absence of governance and leadership, lack of transparency and bureaucracy are the main preparedness barriers. Some countries are in an infancy stage of their health system development, while others are among the least developed health system in the world. Finally, a major barrier to disaster preparedness in SSA countries is the inability to collaborate in disaster response.

CONCLUSIONS

Hospital disaster preparedness is vulnerable in SSA countries. Thus, improvement of hospital disaster preparedness is highly needed.

Assessing children at risk in the United Arab Emirates: Validation of the Arabic version of the Motor Behaviour Checklist (MBC) for use in primary school settings

BACKGROUND

The Motor Behaviour Checklist (MBC) was designed to assist classroom and physical education (PE) teachers in assessing their students' motor-related behaviours. Studies on identification and behaviour problems among children in classrooms are rare in the Arabian context, including in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

AIM

This study examines the structural and discriminant validity of the Arabic version of the MBC and assesses the effects of gender, age and type of disability on children's behaviour.

METHODS

Three groups of children (N = 304) aged 6-12 years were rated by their teachers based on 59 items in the Arabic version of the MBC.

RESULTS

The results of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, as well as a configural invariance analysis of the data, indicated that the Arabic version of the MBC is a valid measurement for assessing behavioural problems in children in the UAE. The results of the multivariate analysis of variance showed gender differences among the children rated by their teachers; the boys in the sample scored higher on all problem scales. The results also showed differences according to the type of disability: children with autism spectrum disorder and attention disorder hyperactivity disorder scored higher than their typically developing peers on most of the problem scales.

CONCLUSION

The findings of the study provide theoretical support for the use of MBC as a valid instrument to assess children at risk in the UAE. The implications of the study and recommendations for tailored interventions in children with diverse needs and characteristics are discussed.