Abstract
Accurate information regarding childhood disability is necessary to plan intervention programmes, provide resources for services, develop and monitor policies at a national level, and to compare disability rates and experiences internationally. Currently, there is a dearth of information on a range of childhood disability issues including the prevalence of disability; severity of disability, causes of disability, impact of disability on development, function and social integration; need for services; access to services and cultural views of disability in developing countries. Without such information, the lives of disabled children in low-income countries are unlikely to improve and the key goal of poverty reduction in low-income countries is unlikely to be achieved.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Lawn, JE, Cousens, S, & Zupan, J (2005). ‘4 million neonatal deaths: When? Where? Why?’, The Lancet, 365:891–900
MacLachlan, M, Carr, SC, & McAuliffe, E (2010). The Aid Triangle: Human Dynamics of Dominance, Justice and Identity, London: Zed
Medeiros, E (2007). ‘Integrating Mental Health into Post-conflict Rehabilitation. The case of Sierra Leonean and Liberian “Child Soldiers”’, Journal of Health Psychology, 12(3):498–504
Mont, D (2007). ‘Measuring Disability Prevalence’, SP Discussion Paper, The World Bank
UN Enable: ‘Promoting the Rights of Persons with Disabilities’. http://www.un.org/disabilities/ [accessed 19th August 2008]
UNICEF (2008a). ‘The State of the World’s Children’, 2008 Report
UNICEF (2008b). http://www.unicef.org/childsurvival/index_40850.html [accessed 19th August 2008]
United Nations Millennium Development Goals. http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/ [accessed 19th August 2008]
WHO (2001). ‘International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF)’, Geneva: WHO
WHO (2007a). ‘Epidemic and pandemic alert and response: Meningococcal disease in Burkina Faso – update’. http://www.who.int/csr/don/2007_04_17/en/index.html [accessed 19th August 2008]
WHO (2007b). ‘International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health for Children and Youth (ICF-CY)’, Geneva: WHO
Acknowledgements
We acknowledge the Health Research Board, Ireland, and Irish Aid for funding this project.
Acknowledgement We are very grateful to the staff from International Services (Ireland) and other local, national, international and governmental organisations who kindly facilitated the research described in this chapter.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Appendices
Appendix: Interview Template
11.1.1 Introduction
My name is Cliona O’Sullivan and I work as a lecturer in the School of Physiotherapy and Performance Science at University College Dublin. I have worked as a clinical physiotherapist for 9 years and for that reason, I am experienced in rehabilitation of disability. I am very interested in issues around disability in developing countries since working in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, where I worked in a local NGO for children with disabilities.
As we know, in Sub-Saharan Africa , one in every five children dies before their 5th birthday. The main causes of global child mortality are: neonatal disorders, meningitis, malaria, diarrhoea, pneumonia, AIDS, measles and other, sometimes unknown, causes. While we have valid statistics on the causes of child mortality, little is known about the survivors of such illnesses , although many are left with gross neurological difficulties, among other things.
Because there is so little that we know about such children, I am interested in investigating/studying/researching these issues a little further here in Burkina Faso/Sierra Leone. I am interested in people’s views about the most pressing area that needs research and most effective way to carry out research in this area. I am hopeful that by carrying out good research, we will gain answers to these questions. By knowing this information, it is then possible to implement interventions that will prevent disabilities, reduce disability and improve functional abilities and social participation.
The purpose of my meeting with you is to gain an insight into disability in Burkina Faso/Sierra Leone through your eyes and to gain a better understanding of the causes of disability and the problems faced by children with disabilities and their families in Burkina Faso/Sierra Leone. I am also interested in your opinions on the best way to engage children with disabilities and their parents to participate in research about disability.
The objectives of my visit to Burkina Faso and Sierra Leone are to:
-
1.
Identify the need for research in this area, specifically what research questions are important to examine from the point of view of all stakeholders (children, parents, people working with childhood disability, NGOs, ministries, universities)
-
2.
Identify the best way to conduct such research in the context of Burkina Faso and Sierra Leone (methodologies/difficulties/obstacles)?
-
3.
Identify the best way to form collaborations with NGOs and local universities
Questions
11.2.1 Families
Do you have a child with a disability? Gender/Age?
What was the cause of the child’s disability? What happened/Describe events.
How would you describe the child’s disability? What can the child do?
What are they unable to do and what do they need assistance with?
Does the child interact with the family/siblings? Play?
Does your child go to school? Do you think your child will be able to go to school? If not, what are the reasons?
Do you have help with the child? Family/community/health services/local or traditional healers?
Do you think that the disability will get better?
How do you think that the child’s quality of life will improve?
What are your aspirations and hopes for the child?
In your opinion, how has the disability of your child affected your life/the life of the rest of your family?
In your opinion what is the area/s that need research? What are the questions that need to be answered?
In your opinion, how would you carry out this research?
What are the solutions?
What is disability?
How are people with disability seen by other people in your community?
What would most improve the lives of people with disabilities?
Children/Adolescents:
What age are you?
How would you describe your disability?
What caused your disability? Can you remember how it happened?
What are your abilities? What can you do? What are your skills?
What do you have difficulty doing? What do you need assistance with? What kind of assistance do you need?
Do/did you go to school? If not, why not?
In your opinion, do you participate in the normal activities that a boy/girl of your age would do?
What would you like to be able to participate in? What are the barriers to this at the moment?
Do you work? What do you do?
What are your aspirations and hopes for the future?
In your opinion what is the area/s that need research? What are the questions that need to be answered?
What is disability?
How are people with disability seen by other people in your community?
What would most improve the lives of people with disabilities?
In your opinion, how would you carry out this research?
What are the solutions?
NGO/Ministries/University:
Do you work in the area of disability? Describe your work in this area?
What are the aims or the philosophy of your work in this area?
Are there statistics on the prevalence of childhood/adult disability? What are your opinions on the causes of childhood/adult disability/impact of childhood/adult disability/concerns for the future/obstacles or influencing factors to full participation?
Has childhood disability been measured in Burkina Faso/Sierra Leone? Is there a question on disability on the census?
In your opinion what is the area/s that need research? What are the questions that need to be answered?
In your opinion, how would you carry out this research? Would you be interested in collaborating/facilitating research in this area?
What are the solutions?
Are there reports/publications in this area?
Similar work carried out by other associations?
What is disability?
How are people with disability seen by other people in your community?
What would most improve the lives of people with disabilities?
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2009 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
O’Sullivan, C., MacLachlan, M. (2009). Childhood Disability in Burkina Faso and Sierra Leone: An Exploratory Analysis. In: Maclachlan, M., Swartz, L. (eds) Disability & International Development. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-93840-0_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-93840-0_11
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-0-387-93843-1
Online ISBN: 978-0-387-93840-0
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)