Heterogeneity in Disability and the Quality of Life of South African Children
- PDF / 510,612 Bytes
- 23 Pages / 439.37 x 666.142 pts Page_size
- 91 Downloads / 160 Views
Heterogeneity in Disability and the Quality of Life of South African Children Jacqueline Moodley 1 Accepted: 12 October 2020/ # Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract In South Africa, fragmented research has shown that children with disabilities experience lower levels of education, poorer health and lower life expectancy than children without disabilities. Yet, no study has developed a multi-dimensional measure that can provide a multifaceted understanding of their quality of life (QoL). Furthermore, life quality has not been compared by heterogeneity in disability. This study therefore aims to: 1) construct a QoL index for children with disabilities; 2) compare QoL based on heterogeneity in child disability; and 3) determine which dimensions most contribute to explaining the variance in QoL for different groups of children. Categorical Principal Component Analysis (CATPCA) and the method of Nicoletti et al. (2000) were used to construct and weight a composite QoL index using the 2016 South African General Household Survey which comprises 1247 children with disabilities. The findings revealed that children with sight impairments experienced the highest QoL in South Africa and that those with mobility impairments experienced the lowest QoL. Furthermore, irrespective of the severity of disabilities experienced, increased access to basic services emerged as a priority area for policy implementation. This was also true for children with sight, hearing and multiple disabilities. Yet, for children with walking and concentration impairments, income support for households emerged as an immediate need, while for those with communication impairments, food access was imperative. Focusing on these specific areas for children with disabilities, depending on their type and severity of disability is crucial if their QoL is to be improved. This research was supported by various organisations: (1) the South African National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences, in collaboration with the South African Humanities Deans Association; (2) the South African National Research Foundation – First Rand Foundation Sabbatical Grant (Grant Number: 112230); (3) the South African National Department of Science of Technology; (4) the University of Johannesburg Research Committee; (5) Farm-Ag International (PTY) Ltd; and (6) the Brocher Foundation in Geneva, Switzerland. Opinions expressed and conclusions arrived at are those of the author and are not necessarily shared by any of these organisations. Appreciation must also be expressed to Dr Paul Issock, Prof Leila Patel, Prof Lauren Graham and Prof Talita Greyling who have all provided comments on this research.
* Jacqueline Moodley [email protected]
1
Department of Psychology, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa
J. Moodley
Keywords Children with disabilities . Quality of life . Multidimensional wellbeing .
Composite index . South Africa
1 Introduction South Africa as a developmental state, is committed to enhancing the quality of life (QoL) of all its citizens
Data Loading...
