Keywords

1 Introduction

In many countries, people living with disabilities experience marginalization and apathy regularly. This is a situation that the Covid-19 virus has exacerbated. The pandemic has negatively affected them and their families, especially in our Arab region, because of wars, disasters, and other crises. The Human Rights Foundation stated in a previous report that “the new Covid-19 virus poses significant risks to many people with disabilities worldwide. The government must do its utmost to provide all the rights and protection of persons with disabilities during the pandemic” [31].

Persons with disabilities are most at risk of infection with the emerging coronavirus (Covid-19). They are extremely vulnerable to diseases of respiration and the complications that usually emerge from their infection with diseases linked to disability. Also, persons with disabilities may face specific obstacles that make it challenging to follow precautionary measures to prevent the virus, such as washing hands, as it may be difficult to rub hands carefully. They sometimes need to touch things to identify them, obtain information, and provide physical support. This can expose them to infection [20].

International laws and legislation have long been concerned with recognizing the right of persons with disabilities to public and university education. It is worth noting that both Article (504) of the American Rehabilitation Act 1973 and the American Act on the Representation of Persons with Disabilities (ADA) dealt with university education. For students with disabilities, Sect. 504 of the Rehabilitation Law of 1973, as amended, prohibits discrimination based on disability in any activity or program funded by the federal government.

The responsibility of educational institutions, in general, and higher education institutions, in particular, increases in these current circumstances. These institutions need to enable people with disabilities to have informational, technical, and cognitive empowerment for easy access to knowledge through the distance learning system and the hybrid system, which is one of the most critical repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic,

There are enormous challenges faced by people with disabilities concerning their technical empowerment and the inequality in providing them with opportunities to access knowledge in various formats. This is the case whether one considers the individuals with disabilities or their families. These effects extend to institutions and countries because of the diversity in the categories of disabilities and their classifications and a parallel diversity in methods of dealing with them. Flexible education to achieve equal opportunities for people with disabilities during distance learning, especially under the current circumstances, becomes a requirement.

Empowerment denotes “the ability of socially excluded and marginalized individuals and groups to better control their lives, achieve their goals, gain valuable resources, and reach their basic rights. It is a development process based on cooperative work, which contributes to reducing marginalization and social exclusion” [25]. Empowerment was used as a theory; as a basis for promoting health practices and interventions to support minorities at all individual, organizational, and social levels [22]. Therefore, because of the importance of empowerment, it must include all levels of society, and a positive relationship exists between learning and empowerment. Learning can improve cognitive models, thinking, developing capabilities, and self- and societal development ([25], p. 42). This is confirmed by [13], (pp. 605–610), who refer empowerment as a cognitive process that enhances the ability to make self-choices and achieve goals. Empowerment is an educational process that promotes critical thinking and independent work and enhances a sense of self-efficacy (Anderson and Funnel, 2010, p. 1).

Conceptualizes empowerment as a complex process based on the interaction between internal psychological and external social factors [22]. Examples include psychological factors (feeling of control and responsibility, participation, and future orientation) as well as external social factors (personal, social, and organizational skills, nature of work, and resource management).”

Empowerment is also examined by [35] (p.8), who describes it as a guiding philosophy that emphasizes the rights of individuals with disabilities regarding making decisions and overcoming challenges. He identified the internal and external factors related to empowerment, such as the concept of healthy self, self-respect, and positive, purposeful relationships. He stressed that the responsibility of those in charge of support and rehabilitation is to improve the opportunities for people with disabilities to control their lives' affairs.

Public administrators, providers of healthcare services, and the public must be conscious of the lived experiences of people with disabilities so that they can support them to meet their needs with acceptable policies. For example, this could mean guaranteeing that the basic community-based social services continue, accessing critical information, and developing adapted guidelines [10].

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the University of Sharjah has taken necessary measures to recognize the right of people with disabilities to university empowerment. The university has provided them equal opportunities in university education through an integrated support system and programs for cognitive, informational, psychological, and social empowerment. This is accomplished through interventions that affect all psychological aspects and the Academy for Students with Disabilities. The current study deals with the nature of these interventions, their role in achieving cognitive empowerment, and their impact on the mental health and academic self-efficacy of diverse groups of people with disabilities enrolled in university studies at the University of Sharjah (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1
A chart presents the cognitive empowerment elements. They are orientation and psychological support, an electronic educational psychological assessment system, monitoring academic needs, developing a comprehensive plan, and all-time availability. training and empowerment, and continuous follow-up.

Cognitive empowerment interventions for people with disabilities at the University of Sharjah

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1.1 Cognitive Empowerment Interventions for People with Disabilities at the University of Sharjah

Preparation and Psychological Support for All Categories of Disabilities. Students with disabilities faced the repercussions of the pandemic and its impact. Many suffered from adverse effects that could be noted in their ehaviour, academic performance, and psychological lives, and the University of Sharjah worked to support them through:

  • The existence of a database for all students with disabilities, their categories of disabilities, their needs, and their social and economic conditions.

  • Studying the social, economic, and academic conditions and providing the necessary support.

  • Providing sources of knowledge and information in formats appropriate to each disability.

  • Guidance and psychological counseling to develop their personal and scientific skills and a sense of quality of life.

  • Implementing a comprehensive electronic educational and psychological assessment system and the comprehensive transformation of providing services online.

  • Monitoring the technical and academic needs of all categories of disabilities.

  • Developing a comprehensive plan to meet all needs, employ support technology, distribute roles, and amend recommendations to coincide with new needs.

  • Adopting a system of information available around the clock in numerous ways and suitable for all categories of disabilities.

  • Training and Empowerment: Working on developing their technological skills through specialized programs and providing an experimental system for exams to enhance the skills of students with disabilities in dealing with electronic exams.

  • Continuous follow-up.

2 Literature Review

The World Health Organization emphasizes that people with disabilities lack equal opportunities in health services, education, and career opportunities and experience inadequate support services and a feeling of marginalization and exclusion from various activities.

According to the World Bank (2017), one-fifth of people with disabilities globally, ranging from about 110 million to 190 million people with severe disabilities, are more vulnerable than others to adverse social and economic effects, including a high rate of poverty, lack of health care, poor health conditions, less education, and lower employment rates.

People with disabilities may benefit from strategies involving self-care as proposed for the general population during the pandemic. Examples of such strategies include providing information without overemphasizing it or statics, facilitating online connections with other community members, loved ones, and friends, accessing mental health professionals through technologies like telehealth, participating in physical activities, and exhibiting self-compassion [26].

“Empowerment is a tool to unleash the inner strength and capabilities of people to achieve prosperity and success. In his idea, empowerment also means empowering people to help enhance self-confidence, overcome disability, and create enthusiasm to perform the task assigned to them” (Blanchard et al., 2003, p 39).

Cognitive empowerment is particularly important for people with disabilities during the Covid-19 pandemic. It helps them access knowledge and information related to academic, health, psychological, and social aspects through the employment of assistive technology. It also enables people with disabilities to use such technology, as it helps students with disabilities improve their quality of life. Using e-education, teacher training and rehabilitation, curriculum development, and virtual centers can assist in teaching students with special needs (Daoud, 2021, pp. 373–388).

The University of Sharjah has emphasized the importance of students with disabilities. It has provided many interventions based on an integrated program for cognitive empowerment. This study answers some of the questions related to these interventions and their effects on mental health and academic self-efficacy by focusing on the study hypotheses:

  • There is a significant correlation between cognitive and informational empowerment and mental health dimensions (anxiety-depression-phobia) for people with disabilities enrolled in university studies.

  • There is a statistically significant correlation between cognitive and academic self-efficacy for people with disabilities enrolled in university studies.

  • There is a statistically significant correlation between mental health and academic self-efficacy for people with disabilities enrolled in university studies.

  • There are no significant differences in the degree of cognitive empowerment due to the variable of the disability category (physical-auditory-visual-learning difficulties).

  • No statistically significant differences were noted in the degree of cognitive empowerment for people with disabilities because of the gender variable.

2.1 Objective

This study’s aim was to identify the cognitive empowerment program for people with disabilities in university education at the University of Sharjah and its impact on academic self-efficacy and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic, in addition to some other sub-goals.

2.2 Ethical Issues

All participants in the study agreed to implement all study procedures. The confidentiality of data was guaranteed by not collecting or processing any personal data that could link personal files and e-mails to identifiers.

3 Materials and Methods

3.1 Participants

The exploratory sample comprised university students of both sexes (n = 150). The research tools were applied to ensure their psychometric characteristics. The main research sample also included (n = 120) male and female students with disabilities (physical, hearing, visual, and learning difficulties) at the University of Sharjah. The distribution of the sample by gender and disability category is presented in Table 1.

Table 1 Distribution of sample members according to gender and disability category
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3.2 Measures

Cognitive Empowerment Questionnaire for Students with Disabilities

The researchers prepared a questionnaire to measure the degree of cognitive and informational empowerment among the sample. It was designed after referring to previous studies and some scales that aimed to measure the degree of psychological and cognitive empowerment (Abdullah and Muhammad, 2020; Al-Qatawneh et al., 2018; Ullah, 2014) [6, 7]. Based on these and other studies, the questionnaire was designed to include four main axes according to the nature of the sample and the interventions included (cognitive and psychological awareness information availability, training and empowerment, independence, and commitment), and it consisted of 26 phrases in its final form.

The psychometric properties of the scale were calculated in diverse ways, including computing the Pearson coefficient between each item of the questionnaire and the aggregate score of the dimension it belongs to and between the score of each dimension and the questionnaire’s aggregate score to determine the extent of the correlation and consistency of the questionnaire items with the total score of the questionnaire and the dimensions of the questionnaire. It has substantial and statistically significant correlation coefficients at the level of 0.01 with the aggregate degree of the dimension it belongs to. The correlation of each dimension with the total degree of the scale is strong and statistically significant at 0.01. This indicates that the questionnaire with its items enjoys high internal consistency. Stability was also calculated using the (alpha, omega, and gtman coefficients). All these values came greater than 0.7, as shown in Table 2.

Table 2 Calculation of stability using (Alpha, Omega, and Getman coefficients)
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The researchers also calculated the validity of the arbitrators using the Loach equation to compute the validity percentage of the Lawshe Ratio Validity Content (CVR) content. It was found that the percentages of the arbitrators’ reliability on the scale statements by the Loach method ranged between 0.88–1. All of them are greater than the critical value identified by Loach for validity. Which is equal to 0.62, and the scale indicated 26, indicating the scale’s validity.

The Academic Self-Efficacy Scale. The researchers prepared a measure of academic self-efficacy after referring to several studies and measures (Abdo, 2013; Abdel-Hakim, 2010; Aziza, 2016). To calculate the scale’s psychometric properties, internal consistency was checked. This was achieved by calculating the Pearson coefficient between each item of the scale and the overall score to determine the extent of correlation and consistency between the items of the scale. It was found that the scale items have strong correlation coefficients (greater than 0.7) and are statistically significant at the level of 0.01 with the scale’s total score, which indicates that the questionnaire with its items has a high internal consistency. The researchers confirmed the scale’s stability using the Alpha Cronbach coefficient. The reliability coefficient was (0.950), with a high stability coefficient (greater than 0.7), which indicates the scale’s stability (Table 3).

Table 3 Correlation coefficients between the score of each item and the overall score for the dimension to which it belongs (n = 150)
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Mental health scale (anxiety–depression–phobia). The three dimensions were selected through the mental health scale developed by Derogatis, Lipman, and Linocov (1992). The R-SCL-90 Symptoms checklist was developed by Saud and Kharboush (2016). To verify the scale’s psychometric properties, the internal consistency was determined by computing the Pearson coefficient between each item of the scale and the aggregate degree of the scale to determine the extent of the correlation and consistency of the scale items. It became clear that the scale items have strong correlation coefficients (greater than 0.7) and are statistically significant at a level of 0.01 with the aggregate score of the dimension to which it belongs. This indicates that the scale, with its items, has high internal consistency (Table 4).

Table 4 Correlation coefficients between the score of each item and the total score of the dimension to which it belongs (n = 150)
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The scale’s stability was confirmed using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. The reliability coefficient reached depression = 0.983, anxiety = 0.979, and phobia = 0.980, which is a high stability coefficient (greater than 0.7) and indicates the scale’s stability.

3.3 Statistical Processing

Tools including the R statistical analysis software [34], psych [18, 23, 29, 30], were employed for the data analysis. The selected data were processed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) (26). The following methods were used: mean, standard deviation, Pearson correlation coefficient, Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, omega coefficient, Exploratory Factor Analysis, t-test for two independent samples, and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA).

4 Results and Discussion

Table 5 shows the existence of a significant inverse correlation at the level of significance (0.01) between cognitive psychological awareness and mental health dimensions (depression, anxiety, and phobia), where the correlation coefficients amounted, respectively, to –0.553, –0.658, and –0.629). There is also a correlation relationship with inverse statistical significance at the level of significance (0.01) between the availability of information and the dimensions of mental health (depression, anxiety, and phobia), where the correlation coefficients were –0.510, –0.542, and –0.534, respectively.

Table 5 Pearson’s correlation coefficients between informational cognitive empowerment and mental health
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Also, there is a statistically significant inverse correlation at the level of significance (0.01) between training, empowerment, and mental health dimensions (depression, anxiety, and phobia), where the correlation coefficients amounted, respectively, to –0.731, –0.679, and –0.711). There is an inverse correlation statistically significant relationship at the level of significance (0.01) between independence, commitment, and mental health dimensions (depression, anxiety, and phobia), where the correlation coefficients were, respectively, at –0.679, –0.566, and –0.646).

Therefore, there is a statistically significant inverse correlation at the level of significance (0.01) between cognitive empowerment and the dimensions of mental health (depression, anxiety, and phobia), where the correlation coefficients, respectively, amounted to –0.522, –0.534, and –0.512.

These findings are consistent with Eleni and Nikos (2015). They proposed a study on patient empowerment as a cognitive process that can help improve medical outcomes while reducing treatment costs by facilitating self-directed behavior change, which implies its positive impact on mental health. Moreover, they suggest that patient empowerment should be treated as a formal cognitive process. Therefore, they proposed a cognitive model consisting of three primary levels of complexity and importance: awareness, participation, and control, and these levels have been addressed in the current model by researchers.

Table 6 shows that there is a positive, statistically significant correlation at the level of significance (0.01) between the dimensions of cognitive empowerment (cognitive and psychological awareness–informational availability–training and empowerment–independence and commitment) and academic self-efficacy, and the correlation coefficient is in order (0.542, –0.437, –0.589, and –0.635). A positive, statistically significant correlation was found at the significant level (0.01) between cognitive empowerment and academic self-efficacy, where the correlation coefficient was 0.549.

Table 6 Pearson’s correlation coefficients between cognitive empowerment and academic self-efficacy
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Table 7 shows the existence of a statistically significant inverse correlation at the level of significance (0.01) between mental health (depression, anxiety, and phobia) and academic self-efficacy, where the correlation coefficients, respectively, amounted to –0.605, –0.558, and –0.557.

Table 7 Pearson’s correlation coefficients between mental health and academic self-efficacy
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Concerning Fig. 2, the researchers used the Independent Samples Test to determine the differences between males and females in response to cognitive empowerment and the differences between the averages of two independent groups. The results obtained are 0.533, 0.633, 0.491, 1.460, and 0.786, which are not statistically significant.

Fig. 2
A horizontal double-bar graph plots the average of female and male, respectively. Total, 115, 118. Independence and commitment, 40, 41. Training and empowerment, 18, 17. Availability of information, 26, 27. Cognitive and psychological awareness, 32, 32. Data are estimated.

The average of males and females in cognitive empowerment

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This indicates no statistically significant differences between average males and females in informational cognitive empowerment. Figure 2 illustrates these results.

The researchers used the ANOVA test to determine the differences between the averages of the independent groups. The value of F reached 6.897, which is a statistically significant value when the figure is above 0.01, indicating differences in cognitive empowerment due to the disability category. To determine the direction of influence according to the category of disability and the order of disabilities according to the degree of the average effect and calculate the average differences between the categories of disabilities according to the degree of cognitive empowerment, the Bonferroni test was used. The results show statistically significant differences in the cognitive and psychological awareness between the physical and educational disability categories in favor of the physical disability category and the availability of information between the physical and hearing disability category in favor of the physical disability category.

The available information between the physical disability category and learning difficulties favors the physical disability category. Moreover, the independence and commitment between the physical and hearing disability groups favor the physical disability group. In independence and commitment and between the physical disability category and learning difficulties in favor of it. The same applies to the category of visual impairment and learning difficulties, which favors the category of visual disability.

Statistically significant differences in cognitive empowerment exist between the physical and hearing disability category in favor of the physical disability category. The same applies to the physical disability and learning difficulties category, which favors the physical disability category. The statistically significant differences between the visual impairment and learning difficulty categories favor it. Table 8 shows the differences in the averages according to the degree of cognitive empowerment and between the categories of disability. The categories of disability are arranged according to the response to cognitive empowerment (physical disability–visual disability–hearing disability–learning difficulties). Figure 3: The mean differences in cognitive empowerment according to the difference in the disability category.

Table 8 Mean differences between disability groups according to cognitive empowerment using the Bonferroni test
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Fig. 3
A horizontal grouped bar graph presents the statistical differences in cognitive empowerment, for 4 disability categories. Learning difficulties, 115. Visual impairment, 118. Hearing impairment, 115. Physical disability, 122. Data are estimated.

Statistical differences in the degree of cognitive empowerment according to the variable of the disability category (physical–audiovisual–learning difficulties)

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5 Conclusions

Students with disabilities in university education have faced many challenges and difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic and given the success of the University of Sharjah in empowering its students with disabilities cognitively, psychologically, and socially in all their categories through the Resource Center for People with Disabilities during the pandemic period and the transformation of distance education and its consequences. WHO made special arrangements in the methods and curricula of education, and this study may contribute to documenting these interventions and arrangements to improve university education practices toward students with disabilities at the academic level (academic self-efficacy) and psychological (mental health) in the Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities at the University of Sharjah In the United Arab Emirates, the study included (120) male and female students with various disabilities, including (physical disability–hearing disability–visual disability–Learning difficulties). Scales were applied: academic self-efficacy scale, cognitive empowerment scale, and mental health scale: R -SCL-90. Dimensions (anxiety, depression, phobias), and their validity and reliability were confirmed by various statistical methods. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected. The results included a statistically significant inverse relationship at the level (0.01) between cognitive empowerment (cognitive awareness, information availability, training and empowerment, independence, and commitment) and mental health (depression, anxiety, and phobias), with correlation coefficients amounting to –0.522, –0.534, and –0.512 were observed. There is a positive statistically significant correlation at the level of significance (0.01) between the dimensions of cognitive empowerment and academic self-efficacy, where the correlation coefficient reached 0.549. A statistically significant inverse relationship of 0.01 between mental health (anxiety, depression, and phobias) and academic self-efficacy, with correlation coefficients of 0.605, 0.558, and –0.557. There are no significant differences between the average of females and males in cognitive empowerment. There are statistically significant differences in the dimensions of cognitive empowerment according to the disability category variable. Disability categories were arranged according to the degree of response to cognitive empowerment: Physical disability, visual impairment, hearing disability, and learning difficulties. Because of the importance of the study to monitor interventions and their impact on students with disabilities, more studies must be conducted to achieve universal access to them in higher education institutions.

6 Recommendations

  • Dissemination of the experience of the University of Sharjah in supporting and empowering students with disabilities of all categories.

  • Ensuring that students with disabilities have access to all services in higher education through public policies set by states.

  • The necessity of establishing specialized centers to support persons with disabilities in higher education and to facilitate the best means for them.

  • Considering the individual differences of people with disabilities and adapting curricula and evaluation methods in line with their abilities and needs.

  • Spreading societal awareness of the issues and rights of people with disabilities in higher education through the media and higher education institutions and its impact on their mental health and life orientations.

  • Dissemination of the results of the study to institutions of higher education and institutions interested in supporting people with disabilities.