Meeting Needs of People With Disabilities in Rural Areas
By Willie Davis, SLC Consultant
People with disabilities, like anyone else, have needs in a variety of areas. Due to their disabilities, they may require contributions from other individuals or agencies in some ways to meet certain needs. Unfortunately, this assistance is not always available in rural communities. To help you better understand the needs of a person with a disability – perhaps yourself – these are described by category below.
Leisure and Recreation:
Participation in sports or leisure activities helps the rehabilitation process. These activities help keep the mind and body healthy, protect against depression and remind people who may have a disability as a result of accident or illness of the many things they can still do well. Unfortunately, almost no organized activities are available in rural areas with the exception of a very few events planned by Independent Living Centers and tribal rehabilitation centers. Common organized functions are: water and snow skiing, hunting expeditions, etc. These activities are limited and mainly are organized on first come first served basis and are generally not planned in local communities. Thus, these leisure activities are more like a vacation than a hobby or sport – nice, maybe great even, but not the same in terms of learning skills or relieving stress.
Contributions needed from the community to enable rural persons with disabilities to integrate fully into local communities are much more than just leisure activities. Contributions needed from the community include:
(1)Facilities for education in the community. Like all students, they should be able to attend school in the community where they live.
(2) Vocational training facilities. Not everyone goes to college. Students with disabilities also need options for getting job training.
(3)Aid for self-employment or getting a job so that he is not dependent on the society or his family,
(4)Awareness programs to educate the society so that community members understand the problems of the persons with disabilities and their abilities. Changing social attitudes is very important,
(5)Assistance in acquiring assistive devices, wheelchairs, etc. so that they are mobile and capable of engaging in useful activities,
(6)Better health and recreational activities, and
(7) Better rehabilitation facilities.
(#4) Health Services:
Health Services in rural areas are provided by local hospitals and by trained family health workers(FHW)/Community Health Representatives(CHR’s)who visit the homes of the needy. There are no special services to persons with disabilities like Physiotherapy units in these hospitals. The FHW/CHR who visit
homes are specially trained to help you with you personal medical needs at home with the direct consultation with your primary physician. They are not exposed to problems of persons with disabilities. Hospitals or Rehabilitation Centers are better equipped and better staffed. Patients from all over the country are referred to these hospitals and centers.
(#4) Rehabilitation Facilities”:
Awareness of the rural population regarding advantages of rehabilitation and the resources available is poor. Some are resigned to the fact that disability is God’s will and do not do anything about it. The quality of the lives of all members of a community, regardless of whether they are able people or persons with disabilities depend on their physical and social environment. The extent that any individual can develop is very often affected by the social attitudes, beliefs and behaviors of the community in which they reside. Therefore the extent of rehabilitation of the disabled is dependent on the attitudes, beliefs and behavior patterns of the rural community of which he is a member. The availability of these facilities in rural communities is limited. Traditionally, it is considered a family responsibility to look after any member who has a disability. But in rural areas due to such factors as poverty, lack of knowledge and lack of facilities to rehabilitate them at home, the responsibility is forced to fall back on welfare schemes
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operated by the state and government. On an average about one per cent of the disabled in need are treated in these facilities. Community based rehabilitation projects are being established gradually to fill the gap. The sexual needs of persons with disabilities is another important aspect rarely discussed. Persons with disabilities also have the desire to marry, have children and enjoy family life like any other normal person. Here the women are more disadvantaged than men. People think disabled women are unable to perform house hold chores even marry and look after
children. Disabled women in rural areas are often hidden from view by their families. A person with a disability in rural settings need wheelchairs, assistive devices, or other accommodations so that they can become mobile and be productive citizens. This requirement of the persons with disabilities is not fully met by the authorities concerned mainly due to financial constraints. Here again the persons with disabilities in rural areas are at a disadvantage because they cannot afford to purchase the assistive devices they require and also they are unaware of sources where it could be obtained free or reduced cost.
(#9) Transportation:
Transport is another factor hindering productivity of life and employment of persons with disabilities. Public transport services are inadequate and they are not equipped to carry wheelchairs. Only the affluent own motor vehicles. So persons with severe motor problems and specially the wheelchair users cannot travel daily using public transport. These services in rural areas are very poor when compared to the urban areas. There are small communities and tribal reservations with bad roads. Because of the transport difficulties, the visits to hospitals or care facilities is rare.
Sources: No. 1, 4, 9 (SD People: Empowering the rural disabled in Asia and the Pacific: w