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Critically Analysing Disability Sector, Challenges, Gaps and Addressing the Issue

Ranjana Patwal

Masters of Social Work Qualifying, ACAP

SWSP 6003: Becoming a Social Worker – Social Policy and Practice Context

Dr. Henry Ndala

April 5, 2024
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Throughout their lives, individuals with disabilities require a variety of assistance

to integrate into their communities, participate in meaningful and important activities, and

have equal access to community living as those without disabilities (Hunt et al., 2022). This

essay will look at several facets of the disability sector and explain how they overlap with my

personal and cultural values. I will also examine the disability sector, highlighting the

difficulties it faces, identifying holes in the industry, and proposing solutions to bridge these

gaps.

Working in a field with people who have disabilities can be extremely rewarding as a

social worker. It entails providing support to individuals with disabilities so that they may

increase their autonomy, pursue educational and occupational prospects, and actively engage

in their communities, thereby significantly improving their quality of life. Across different

epochs, people with disabilities have encountered significant challenges in their pursuit of

optimal independence, productivity, and societal acceptance, including environmental and

stigmatizing barriers and majority of laws, policies, and practices have historically considered

individuals with disabilities to be unsuitable for society, ill, functionally limited, and unable to

work (Mackelprang & Salsgiver, 1996). Individuals with disabilities frequently encounter

policy obstacles to securing employment and may remain unemployed because they are

ineligible for employer-sponsored insurance (Cook, 2006, as cited in Kiesel et al., 2019). The

foundation of professional social work is problem-solving and change administration. Social

workers utilise an array of competencies, methodologies, and interactions that are following a

holistic perspective on individuals with disabilities and their environments. A considerable

number of social workers are committed to providing services to clients with disabilities; this

facet of the profession is constantly growing and developing as a frontrunner. Inadequate

attention has been paid, however, to the representation and support of social workers with

disabilities (Kiesel et al., 2019). There is a notable absence of research on the challenges
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encountered by support workers with disabilities in the workforce. Existing literature on this

topic is sparse and lacks empirical evidence.

Around 15% of the global population comprises people with disabilities (World

Health Organization, 2011). According to the World Report on Disability by WHO & World

Bank (2011), individuals with disabilities encounter numerous barriers such as exclusion

from participation in various activities, limited accessibility, negative attitudes, and

inadequate service provision, which contribute to their exclusion and restriction. Posarac and

Vick (2013, as cited in WHO, 2011) highlight the economic plight of people with disabilities,

asserting that they are the most disadvantaged economic group in society. Contrarily,

individuals with disabilities often experience greater socio-economic and mental health

advantages from paid employment compared to those without disabilities. However, they

experience additional negative consequences of work, such as social marginalization, housing

insecurity, poor mental and physical health, and increased economic hardship (Devine et al.,

2021). Individuals with disabilities face exacerbated employment challenges that include an

amalgam of individual-level demographic variables as well as vocational, non-vocational,

and structural restrictions that make it difficult for them to find and keep work. Vocational

obstacles include an individual's educational background, development, competencies,

credentials, work experience, and ability to conduct job searches and complete job-related

duties. Additionally, lengthy periods of unemployment can increase occupational hurdles,

making it more difficult for individuals to find work. Non-vocational obstacles include a

variety of issues that impede an individual's ability to obtain or retain work, as well as their

involvement in education or skill training. Examples include physical concerns or disabilities,

poor mental health, homelessness, experiences of violence and abuse, a lack of transportation,

and financial difficulties. Structural barriers are obstacles that collectively contribute to

persistent inequalities across an individual's lifetime, affecting groups as a whole. Key

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examples in relation to people with disabilities include discrimination, a scarcity of suitable

job opportunities, and inadequate investment and resources allocated to meeting their basic

disability-related needs (Devine et al., 2021). Furthermore, individuals with disabilities

encounter employment discrimination concerning promotion, workplace opportunities, and

termination, even if they are employed. Research indicates that individuals with various

disabilities still encounter pervasive discrimination across all facets of employment (Fevre et

al., 2013, as cited in Kiesel et al., 2019). The most common impediments are frequently

attributable to unfavourable opinions or stigma maintained by employers and coworkers.

These include ideas that people with disabilities lack the necessary skills and expertise to

execute employment responsibilities efficiently, worries about safety, and anxiety about the

costs involved with adjustments (Kiesel et al., 2019).

Furthermore, those who provide assistance to clients with disabilities are commonly

known as Disability Support Workers (DSWs), and they are widely recognized as essential

contributors to modern disability support services (Judd et al., 2016). Another difficulty in

this sector is that DSWs regularly experience job stress and burnout, resulting in a substantial

turnover rate within professionals in the non-professional disability-related workforce.

Disability Support Workers face an imbalance in which the disadvantages of their jobs

frequently exceed the advantages, resulting in stress and, on occasion, burnout. While being a

support worker may be extremely gratifying and enjoyable, such as seeing a client acquire a

new skill and earning praise; these experiences are often offset by emotionally and physically

demanding situations. These obstacles include controlling client behavior, dealing with

minimal income, and having restricted decision-making authority (Judd et al., 2016). In such

cases, support workers are more likely to seek help themselves rather than having it provided

to them by the organization they work for, and they must rely on their own skills and debrief

with friends or colleagues to handle stress. Disability support workers play a significant part
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in delivering necessary services to people with disabilities. While their efforts are usually

overlooked, the implementation of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has

resulted in improvements. The NDIS is based on a human rights framework driven by

person-centred principles, allowing individuals to get specialized support adapted to their

specific requirements. While some people are able to access the system, others may find it

confusing, challenging, and difficult to manage. This identifies a specific gap, which will be

addressed in the following paragraphs.

Disability inclusion requires community support for people with impairments. People with

disabilities have a wide range of support requirements in many areas of their lives, including

communication, decision-making, self-care, and housing, which are usually poor or unmet.

This scenario is worsened in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where official

support services are limited or non-existent. To put it simply, people with disabilities rely

heavily on their families and communities for assistance, despite major disability-related

expenses and impediments to meaningful inclusion.

Frequently, certain non-governmental organizations (NGOs) provide limited current

support services with little to no government involvement and no overall policy framework. A

potential reason for the inaccessibility of such assistive services is a lack of publicly-supported

community assistance in such nations, which can result in direct and indirect disability-related

expenditures for people who have impairments and their families; they must compensate for

such help (Palmer et al., 2015, as cited in Encalada et al., 2023). Girls and women generally

give the bulk of assistance, which has a direct impact on their education, health, income, and

other life possibilities, emphasizing the issue of gender disparity. While families and

communities will continue to play an important role in assisting, official processes and

services must be developed to assure equitable involvement, choice, and opportunity for
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people with disabilities, as well as to promote gender equality. One of the most serious gaps is

the existing absence of sufficient official support services for persons with disabilities. This

insufficiency impacts both people with disabilities and their families, emphasizing the

importance of enhanced support systems for meeting their various requirements. The reliance

on family members has a substantial influence on the social and economic prospects of both

individuals with disabilities and their families. For instance, in the absence of formal

assistance, family members are frequently compelled to assume the role of primary caregivers,

which may result in the neglect of educational or employment prospects. As a consequence,

these economic challenges intensify, propelling the affected individuals deeper into poverty.

Moreover, this scenario may give rise to exhaustion among family members who are offering

assistance, which can have substantial repercussions on their well-being and heighten the

likelihood that individuals with disabilities will be subjected to neglect or maltreatment.

In the years since the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)

was ratified, investments in assistive technologies, disability mainstreaming, and accessibility

have increased. Nevertheless, a significant oversight persists regarding the facilitation of

essential support to promote the integration of people with disabilities, particularly in

developing and middle-income nations (LMICs) (Encalada et al., 2023). Despite the CRPD's

goal of ensuring that every person with a disability has access to adequate, appropriate, and

affordable community services, many continue to experience unmet support requirements.

This difficulty is especially acute in areas such as personal help, communication support, and

housing arrangements. Both low- and high-income nations have limits in mobility, a lack of

user interaction, and insufficient coverage by social safety systems, worsening the situation.

Many low-income nations have severe gaps in community support services for people with

disabilities. These systems and services are frequently underdeveloped or completely

unavailable. As a result, people with disabilities lose control over the assistance they obtain,
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which leads to disagreements about problems like overprotection, privacy, and conflicts of

interest. Furthermore, there are gender implications, since girls and women in households

frequently assist, paying the price of missed chances as a result. Second, there is a significant

lack of awareness at all levels about the need for support services. Individuals with disabilities

and their families frequently do not advocate for community support services owing to

systematic prejudice and structural hurdles. Furthermore, disability-related support

requirements may go unnoticed due to low capacity and imprecise information on the

population's support requirements. Inadequate investment in the industry has resulted in

limited capacity among service providers and a skilled worker shortage. Existing support

services are frequently scattered, inefficient, and of poor quality. This challenge is especially

difficult in rural locations where service provider shortages are considerably more severe.

There are ways to improve disabled people's access to support services in low- and middle-

income countries. To promote the rights of people with disabilities to live independently in the

community, there must be a strong commitment to supporting systems and amenities at the

political, monetary, and execution levels. While there is no one-size-fits-all solution due to the

diversity of institutional, social, political, and economic contexts in LMICs, improving access

to disability-related support necessitates system-level interventions that address at least four

major components: policy, financing, service delivery, and participation. Support services

must be legally acknowledged as key components of the ability to live freely in the

community, emphasizing the importance of support services as a basic human right.

Recognizing support services as vital to independent living is critical for assuring enforcement

and compliance, stimulating increasing demand and supply, and improving availability and

cost. A comprehensive policy framework is required, addressing multiple support needs across

life stages and identities. Effective leadership and governance within such a structure may

maximize the use and provision of official and informal community assistance while creating
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suitable standards and monitoring procedures. The underestimated need for support services

emphasizes the significance of raising awareness to change attitudes and better detect

assistance requirements. It is crucial that individuals with disabilities actively participate

throughout the policy cycle to ensure that assistance is customised to their specific needs. This

active engagement ultimately contributes to an enhanced quality of life for those with

disabilities (Encalada et al., 2023). Facilitating service delivery mechanisms by mobilizing

community resources offers a means to optimize resources, thereby enabling the enhancement

and consolidation of these support services (Carey et al., 2019, as cited in Encalada et al.,

2023). There is a need for investment in community support. While numerous studies have

established the comparative cost-effectiveness of community-based support services and

institutional care, empirical evidence from affluent nations suggests that delivering superior

disability support frequently incurs substantial expenses. Additionally, deinstitutionalization

may incur substantial transitional expenses (Knapp et al., as cited in Encalada et al., 2023).

Moreover, to enhance the availability of community support in low and middle-income

countries (LMICs), it is imperative to implement comprehensive reforms in the areas of

policy, participation, service provision, and funding. Legal recognition of community support

as a fundamental component of independent living is a prerequisite, in addition to a

comprehensive policy framework. This requires developing a strong evidentiary foundation

for support needs. Second, obtaining effective funding, maybe through cash plus programs, is

critical. Third, using informal support structures and public-private partnerships, in addition to

workforce development, can improve service delivery. Finally, civil society participation in

decision-making and monitoring is critical to effective community support systems.

Growing up and spending my entire life in India, I have seen firsthand the enormous

problems that people with physical and mental impairments face. Accessing government-
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funded services to improve one's quality of life is difficult in rural regions since many people

are uninformed of how to do so. Numerous government insurance systems in India, similar to

Australia's NDIS, attempt to assist disabled people, however awareness remains low owing to

inadequate education, mobility, and rural locations. These efforts promote inclusion and

equitable opportunity, acting as beacons of hope by ensuring that persons with disabilities

have equal access to education, employment, and basic services. Those linked with these

organizations are frequently recognized for their particular abilities, therefore breaking down

societal boundaries and building a more compassionate, egalitarian, and accessible India.

Despite advancements, people with disabilities face major challenges in obtaining mental

health support services. Mental health issues are not as well handled as general health

concerns, resulting in insufficient practitioner training, a scarcity of specialized resources,

and inefficient coordination among care providers. These obstacles hinder access to critical

help for individuals in need, emphasizing the urgent need for improvements in mental health

care provision. Since ancient times, a medical paradigm has been used that focuses on

normalizing the bodies and minds of individuals judged handicapped, removing disability

features, and isolating the disabled from non-disabled people (Bunbury, 2019 and

Shakespeare, 2006, as cited in Zaks, 2023). There is a clear contrast between disability,

which is caused by social causes, and impairments, which are physical or mental

characteristics that might be positive, neutral, or negative regardless of the environment

(Goering, 2015, Shakespeare, 2006 and Thomas, 2010, as cited in Zaks, 2023). Furthermore,

essential efforts have been made over the last several decades to transition society from the

medical model to the acceptance of the social model of disability, which blames obstacles

and injustices in society for impairing human beings. This has improved situations for

handicapped individuals in some respects (Barnes & Barton, 2018, as cited in Zaks, 2023).

For illustration, if a disabled person is unable to reach the higher levels of a building, it is not
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due to his condition, but rather due to the building's lack of provisions for disabled persons.

On the contrary, the medical model tends to criticize the individual for not being able to

perform the essential task alongside everyone else. For this reason, the medical paradigm has

been criticized by society, particularly disabled individuals.

To summarize, while progress has been achieved globally to enhance access to

support services for people with disabilities, considerable problems remain, notably in

physical and mental health assistance. Limited knowledge, insufficient training for

practitioners, and a scarcity of specialist services continue to impede access to critical help.

Despite these obstacles, government programs and groups committed to disability support

provide promise for inclusion and equal opportunity. Moving forward, tackling these hurdles

completely is critical to achieving a more compassionate, egalitarian, and accessible global

community. By prioritizing awareness, training, and collaboration, we can guarantee that

every person, regardless of disability, receives the assistance they require to live productive

lives.
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