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Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) are critical to promoting and protecting the rights of people with disabilities. However, little is known about the extent to which people with disabilities are aware and members of OPDs. This study uses data from nine population-based surveys in low- and middle-income countries to explore OPD awareness and membership. Across settings, about a third of people with disabilities were aware of OPDs and fewer than 15% were members. Awareness and membership were lower amongst older adults, women, people with difficulties communicating, remembering and with self-care, people with less education, in poverty and in rural areas. Underrepresentation of certain groups may indicate a need to seek out the voices of people less likely to be associated with OPDs. Further, low total membership may be a cause for concern in settings where OPDs are relied upon to deliver essential services in the absence of state structures. Points of interest: Organisations of Persons with Disabilities can serve many roles, including advocacy, policymaking and service provision. The increasing involvement of Organisations of Persons with Disabilities in direct provision of essential services, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, is often a result of poor availability and quality of inclusive public services. This study explores awareness and membership of people with disabilities across nine low- and middle-income countries using population-based surveys. About a third of people with disabilities were aware of Organisations of Persons with Disabilities across settings, ranging from 12% in Lesotho to 73% in the Maldives. Fewer than 15% of people with disabilities were members across settings, ranging from 3.5% in Zambia to 14% in Vietnam (Cam Le district). Awareness and membership were generally lower amongst older adults, women, people with difficulties communicating, remembering and with self-care, people with less education, in poverty and in rural areas. Given the increased role of Organisations of Persons with Disabilities in direct service delivery, low total membership may indicate that many people with disabilities – particularly the most marginalised or experiencing the greatest need – are not being reached. Additional efforts may also be needed to seek out the voices of groups underrepresented in Organisations of Persons with Disabilities, particularly for advocacy and policymaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Composite T-grafts between left internal mammary artery (LIMA) and radial artery (RA) are a common concept in complete arterial myocardial revascularization. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether the use of the great saphenous vein (SV) instead of RA leads to comparably good results in terms of outcome in this context. Methods Patients who underwent myocardial revascularization with a T-graft using RA or a segment of SV to the right coronary artery or circumflex artery between the beginning of 2014 and the end of 2019 at the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel were included. To minimize surgical variation, only patients were observed by a single senior surgeon in the department. Exclusion criteria were previous cardiac surgery, preoperative extracorporeal circulatory support, off-pump surgery, additional aortocoronary bypasses, and cardiac combination procedures. Results A total of 115 patients were studied. In 55 patients, the T-graft was placed between the LIMA and SV, and in 60 patients, the T-graft was placed between the LIMA and RA. Patients in the SV group were older (70.6 ± 7.8 vs. 58.5 ± 10.0 years; p < 0.001), suffered more frequently from non-ST elevation myocardial infarction (12.7 vs. 1.7%; p = 0.027), arterial hypertension (83.6 vs. 61.7%; p = 0.009), and atrial fibrillation (18.2 vs. 1.7%; p = 0.003). They were less likely to be active smokers (16.4 vs. 38.3%; p = 0.009) and less likely to have a history of variceal surgery (0 vs. 15.0%; p = 0.003). Calcification of the ascending aorta was also found more frequently in the saphenous group (18.2 vs. 3.3%, p = 0.009). Operative times and number of distal anastomoses did not differ significantly between the two groups. Postoperative deliriums (16.7 vs. 5.0%; p = 0.043) were observed more frequently in venous patients. Wound healing disorders of the leg (11.1 vs. 0%; p = 0.011) did only occur in SV group and wound infections of the arm only in the RA group. Complete follow-up was achieved in 74.8% of cases. Median follow-up was 60.3 (39.6; 73.2) months. Serious adverse cardiac–cerebral events (19.0 vs. 22.7%; p = 0.675) and mortality (14.5 vs. 6.7%; p = 0.167) did not differ significantly between the groups at follow-up. Myocardial infarction (0 vs. 2.5%; p = 1.000) and stroke (0 vs. 7.5%; p = 0.245) were observed exclusively in RA group. Percutaneous coronary intervention was required in single patients of RA group (0 vs. 15.0%; p = 0.028). No patient from either group underwent repeat coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). The patients of SV group had angiographically competent grafts and open anastomoses. Graft failure was noted in a single patient in RA group, in which case both grafts and native coronary vessels were stented. Kaplan–Meier analysis revealed no significant survival disadvantage for SV group compared with RA group. Conclusion CABG with a composite T-graft between LIMA and a segment of SV may be comparable to bypass surgery with a composite T-graft between LIMA and RA. This might be true in terms of morbidity and mortality over an intermediate-term observation period. The results of our studies give rise to the hypothesis that the decision not to perform aortic bypass anastomosis may be more important than the choice of graft material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Succeeding at university can be a complex matter, and the barriers are manifold for students with disabilities (SwDs). Accommodations are available for those with needs, but these alone do not meet the political goals of inclusive educations. Student ambassadors act as experienced representatives on campuses, supporting others and gaining individual benefits themselves. Approaches building on SwDs' experiences and capacities can be a means to overcome the complex barriers often faced throughout education. This scoping review aimed to map research on student ambassador interventions for SwDs in higher education and identify the interventions' key concepts. The result will inform an ambassador intervention in higher education. Six electronic databases were searched for peer-reviewed articles of any design published between 2010 and December 2020. Six studies met the inclusion criteria. A thematic synthesis resulted in three key concepts: peer guidance and supportive relationships; building strategies and transferable skills; and advocating for change. However, no program utilises exclusively students with disabilities in ambassador roles. The results indicate a lack of research as well as awareness on the unexplored potential of actively involving SwDs in ambassador roles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of disability on the living conditions of people living in specifically resource-poor areas in South Africa has not previously been addressed. This paper presents a comparison of people with a disability and their non-disabled peers with respect to some key poverty indicators among a sample of Xhosa speaking individuals in resource-poor areas of Eastern and Western Cape Provinces. A questionnaire on the level of living conditions (household composition and socio-economic characteristics) and a detailed disability questionnaire that captured more specific details of the disability experience of the individual with a disability were adapted to the South African context and utilised. Despite the improved situation of households with a disabled family member in terms of financial resources (due primarily to the allocation of disability grants), other measures of poverty (education and employment) remain divisive for those with disabilities. (Contains 8 tables and 1 note.)

This manuscript is developed from research conducted in 2018-2019 on "Living Conditions among Persons with Disabilities in Uganda." The paper compares living conditions among households with and without disabilities by rural-urban locations on these indicators: asset possession, dietary diversity, information access, sources and type of water, energy and housing standard and infrastructure. These are believed to be the basic necessities for a family and vital for determining a family's welfare; however, existing literature suggests that they have not received much research focus. The household is the focus because most of the Uganda government's poverty reduction interventions target it. This quantitative study sampled 10,710 and 5,333 rural-urban households with and without disabilities, respectively, randomly selected from 12 subregions of Uganda. The study applied the social model of disability, the human rights-based model and the citizenship theory because they are most relevant in this context. The social model helps to identify the social dimension of disability, which demands changes in society that are inclusive of persons with disabilities. The implementation of the principles of the human rights and the citizenship model and theory, respectively, helps to unlock the opportunities of persons with disabilities and their full potential to enable individuals with disabilities to have control over their environment. The study finds that there are glaring gaps between households with and without disabilities by ruralurban locations along the above-mentioned indicators, to the disadvantage of households with disabled members. Therefore, social workers and developers should advocate and lobby stakeholders for social change and interventions that tap the opportunities and full potential of persons with disabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To address the data gap on efforts to assess use of assistive technology among children with disability in sub-Saharan Africa. Contribute towards efforts examining access to assistive technologies in sub-Saharan Africa. The paper uses data from the 2017 survey on Living conditions among persons with disabilities in Malawi and the 2015-16 Malawi Demographic and Health survey to address the objective of the study. The two datasets were statistically matched through random hot deck technique, by integrating the two datasets using randomly selected units from a subset of all available data donors. Results indicate that statistical matching technique produces a composite dataset with an uncertainty value of 2.2%. An accuracy assessment test of the technique also indicates that the marginal distribution of use of assistive technology in the composite dataset is similar to that of the donor dataset with an Overlap index value of close to 1 (Overlap = 0.997). The statistical matching procedure does enable generation of good data in data constrained contexts. In the current study, this approach enabled measurement of access to assistive products among children with disabilities, in situations where the variables of interest have not been jointly observed. Such a technique can be valuable in mining secondary data, the collection of which may have been funded from different sources and for different purposes. This is of significance for the efficient use of current and future data sets, allowing new questions to be asked and addressed by locally based researchers in poor settings. In resource-poor settings, the technique of statistical matching can be used to examine factors that predict the use of assistive technology among persons with disabilities. The statistical matching technique is of significance for the efficient use of current and future datasets, allowing new questions to be asked and addressed by locally based researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

WHO implemented the Rapid Assistive Technology Assessment in 2021. This is a household survey on self-reported use, need and barriers for accessing AT in 35 countries globally. In order to obtain comparable data, all surveys followed guidelines developed by WHO, including national two-stage random sampling of households. The 2021 rATA survey included 32 of a total of 140 LMICs globally. Around 40 % of the total respondents (all countries) estimated travel distance to be <5 km, varying from less than 10 % to almost 60 % among the countries. Around 15 % had to travel more than 50 km, varying from 1.3 % to 37.5 %. More individuals living in rural as compared to urban areas had to travel more than 25 km to get their main assistive product. Gender differences were marginal. By far the most prevalent barrier to access assistive products was "Cannot afford", amounting to 39.9% and varying from 6.7 % to 79.1 % among countries. This was followed by "No support" with 14.3 %, varying from 2.3 % to 36.9 %, and "Not available" with 8.1 %, varying from 1 % to 21.5 %. More barriers were reported in rural than urban areas and women report more barriers than men. Variation between countries in both travel time and barriers is substantial and country-specific service development is needed to guide service development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]