IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i11p5547-d560085.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

“Give Us the Chance to Be Part of You, We Want Our Voices to Be Heard”: Assistive Technology as a Mediator of Participation in (Formal and Informal) Citizenship Activities for Persons with Disabilities Who Are Slum Dwellers in Freetown, Sierra Leone

Author

Listed:
  • Victoria Austin

    (Development Planning Unit & GDI Hub WHO Global Collaborating Centre for AT, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK)

  • Cathy Holloway

    (UCLIC Engineering & GDI Hub WHO Global Collaborating Centre for AT, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK)

  • Ignacia Ossul Vermehren

    (Development Planning Unit, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK)

  • Abs Dumbuya

    (Dorothy Springer Trust, Opportunities House, 18 Race Course Road, Cline Town, Freetown, Sierra Leone)

  • Giulia Barbareschi

    (UCLIC Engineering & GDI Hub WHO Global Collaborating Centre for AT, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK)

  • Julian Walker

    (Development Planning Unit, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK)

Abstract

The importance of assistive technology (AT) is gaining recognition, with the World Health Organisation (WHO) set to publish a Global Report in 2022. Yet little is understood about access for the poorest, or the potential of AT to enable this group to participate in the activities of citizenship; both formal and informal. The aim of this qualitative study was to explore AT as mediator of participation in citizenship for persons with disabilities who live in two informal settlements in Freetown, Sierra Leone (SL). The paper presents evidence from 16 participant and 5 stakeholder interviews; 5 focus groups and 4 events; combining this with the findings of a house-to-house AT survey; and two national studies—a country capacity assessment and an informal markets deep-dive. Despite citizenship activities being valued, a lack of AT was consistently reported and hindered participation. Stigma was also found to be a major barrier. AT access for the poorest must be addressed if citizenship participation for persons with disabilities is a genuine global intention and disability justice is to become a reality.

Suggested Citation

  • Victoria Austin & Cathy Holloway & Ignacia Ossul Vermehren & Abs Dumbuya & Giulia Barbareschi & Julian Walker, 2021. "“Give Us the Chance to Be Part of You, We Want Our Voices to Be Heard”: Assistive Technology as a Mediator of Participation in (Formal and Informal) Citizenship Activities for Persons with Disabilitie," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-30, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:11:p:5547-:d:560085
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/11/5547/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/11/5547/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Richard Tomlinson, 2017. "The Scalability of the Shack/Slum Dwellers International Methodology: Context and Constraint in Cape Town," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 35(1), pages 115-133, January.
    2. ., 2006. "Capability Approach," Chapters, in: David Alexander Clark (ed.), The Elgar Companion to Development Studies, chapter 8, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    3. Malcolm MacLachlan & Joanne McVeigh & Michael Cooke & Delia Ferri & Catherine Holloway & Victoria Austin & Dena Javadi, 2018. "Intersections Between Systems Thinking and Market Shaping for Assistive Technology: The SMART (Systems-Market for Assistive and Related Technologies) Thinking Matrix," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-15, November.
    4. Green, Duncan, 2016. "How Change Happens," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198785392.
    5. Silvia Faccioli & Francesco Lombardi & Pierantonio Bellini & Stefania Costi & Silvia Sassi & Maria Cristina Pesci, 2021. "How Did Italian Adolescents with Disability and Parents Deal with the COVID-19 Emergency?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-13, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Victoria Austin & Catherine Holloway, 2022. "Assistive Technology (AT), for What?," Societies, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-17, November.
    2. Natasha Layton & Daniel Mont & Louise Puli & Irene Calvo & Kylie Shae & Emma Tebbutt & Keith D. Hill & Libby Callaway & Diana Hiscock & Abner Manlapaz & Inge Groenewegen & Mahpekai Sidiqi, 2021. "Access to Assistive Technology during the COVID-19 Global Pandemic: Voices of Users and Families," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-23, October.
    3. Mohamed I. Maalim & Malcolm MacLachlan, 2022. "The Assistive Technology Passport: A Resource for Enhancing Capabilities as a Result of Better Access to Assistive Technology," Societies, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-21, December.
    4. Ruth Mayne & Duncan Green & Irene Guijt & Martin Walsh & Richard English & Paul Cairney, 2018. "Using evidence to influence policy: Oxfam’s experience," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 4(1), pages 1-10, December.
    5. Qhayiya Magaqa & Proochista Ariana & Sarah Polack, 2021. "Examining the Availability and Accessibility of Rehabilitation Services in a Rural District of South Africa: A Mixed-Methods Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-16, April.
    6. Philipp Horn & Diana Mitlin & Jhono Bennett & Beth Chitekwe-Biti & Jack Makau, 2018. "Towards citywide participatory planning: emerging community-led practices in three African cities," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series 342018, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    7. Nóra Menich, 2022. "Each Person as an End? The Users’ Choices in the Service Delivery Process for Assistive Technology in Hungary," Societies, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-14, September.
    8. Jayalaxshmi Mistry & Jacqueline Shaw, 2021. "Evolving Social and Political Dialogue through Participatory Video Processes," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 21(2), pages 196-213, April.
    9. María Faciolince & Duncan Green, 2021. "One Door Opens: Another Door Shuts?," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 52(2), pages 373-382, March.
    10. Nicola Andreij Rieg & Birgitta Gatersleben & Ian Christie, 2023. "Driving Change towards Sustainability in Public Bodies and Civil Society Organisations: Expert Interviews with UK Practitioners," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-15, May.
    11. Natasha Layton & Johan Borg, 2023. "Assistive Technology and the Wellbeing of Societies from a Capabilities Approach," Societies, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-3, January.
    12. Punová, Monika & Navrátil, Pavel & Navrátilová, Jitka, 2020. "Capabilities and well-being of child and adolescent social services clients in the Czech Republic," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    13. Mario Biggeri & Jose Antonio Cuesta, 2021. "An Integrated Framework for Child Poverty and Well-Being Measurement: Reconciling Theories," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 14(2), pages 821-846, April.
    14. Stephen Lauer & Matthew Sanderson, 2020. "Irrigated agriculture and human development: a county-level analysis 1980–2010," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 22(5), pages 4407-4423, June.
    15. Shivani Gupta & Agnes Meershoek & Luc P. de Witte, 2022. "Using the Capability Approach to Review the National Legislative Frameworks for Support Services for Persons with Disabilities in Four Countries in Asia," Societies, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-15, December.
    16. Hannah Kuper & Calum Davey & Lena Morgon Banks & Tom Shakespeare, 2020. "Trials and Tribulations of Collecting Evidence on Effectiveness in Disability-Inclusive Development: A Narrative Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-11, September.
    17. Fox, Jonathan, 2020. "Contested terrain: International development projects and countervailing power for the excluded," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    18. World Bank, 2018. "World Development Report 2018 [Rapport sur le développement dans le monde 2018]," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 28340.
    19. Jackie Shaw & Mary Wickenden & Stephen Thompson & Philip Mader, 2022. "Achieving disability inclusive employment – Are the current approaches deep enough?," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(5), pages 942-963, July.
    20. Aureliusz Andrzej Kosendiak & Michał Piotr Wysocki & Paweł Piotr Krysiński, 2022. "Lifestyle, Physical Activity and Dietary Habits of Medical Students of Wroclaw Medical University during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(12), pages 1-17, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:11:p:5547-:d:560085. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.