Collaborations to address barriers for people with communication disabilities in Ghana: Considering the World Report on Disability

Abstract The World Health Organization's World Report on Disability underscores the need to identify and address barriers that limit people with disabilities from having access to services. Wylie, McAllister, Davidson, and Marshall (2013) consider the impact of that report on people with commun...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of speech language pathology 2013-02, Vol.15 (1), p.53-57
Main Authors: Crowley, Catherine, Baigorri, Miriam, Ntim, Clement, Bukari, Belinda, Oseibagyina, Albert, Kitcher, Emmanuel, Paintsil, Albert, Ampomah, Opoku Ware, Laing, Anthony
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Africa
alternative and augmentative communication
cleft palate
Communication Disorders - therapy
Ghana
Global Health
Health Services Accessibility - trends
Humans
intellectual disabilities
people with communication disability
professional development
sustainability
under-served
Vulnerable Populations
World Health Organization
World Report on Disability
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Summary:Abstract The World Health Organization's World Report on Disability underscores the need to identify and address barriers that limit people with disabilities from having access to services. Wylie, McAllister, Davidson, and Marshall (2013) consider the impact of that report on people with communication disabilities (PWCD). Over the past 5 years, the authors have worked together in Ghana to address the needs of PWCD. With only about 10 university-trained speech-language pathologists (SLPs) in Ghana, the barriers to PWCD receiving services are quite high. The authors are working together and with others to establish the first speech-language pathology program in Ghana. The authors also work to identify ways to share with PWCD and their families knowledge and skills on how to improve the communicative function of PWCD. In doing so, the authors have learned valuable lessons about the role of an SLP, especially when considering under-served PWCD, lessons that are applicable to both Majority and Minority World countries. This commentary describes the authors' work over the past 5 years, and describes initiatives that have had some measure of success in reducing barriers to access to information and services needed by PWCD and their caregivers and communities.
ISSN:1754-9507
1754-9515
DOI:10.3109/17549507.2012.743036