Care for Women and Disabilities: a Call for Citizenship - Essay Example

Redefining Home: Care for Women and Disabilities: A Call for Citizenship Introduction The following section covers a brief summary of assigned readings on redefining home care for women with disabilities-a call for citizenship and its major points. It also summarizes reading on Aboriginal women and home care and finally, “Just fed and watered”: women’s experiences of the gutting of home care in Ontario. Redefining home care for women with disabilities: A call for citizenship by Kari Krogh Home care to the disabled women is much more than any assistance provided to them which facilitates either physical or emotional welfare. Nevertheless, it is an essential requirement towards the achievement of full citizenship. In order for the disabled women to access the world as well as engage in community activities, there is need for formal and informal home care (Grant Karen 116). However, the most important concern to this particular group of people is assistance, no matter what type, from anyone in the community. According to Kari Krogh, home care can be in form of home based personal assistance or attendant care to the affected personalities. It can be medical or non-medical nature. According to the research carried out, home care was regarded as a gendered issue. Therefore, like other forms of human disadvantages, disability lead to increased complexity when analyzing the issue. Thus, women are considered to be more likely requiring care than men and chances of receiving the level assistance as required becomes minimal. Society’s values and norms contribute to rendering disabled women ineligible as well as unworthy of sponsored home care. Additionally, disabled women in need of home care face discrimination in their society based on sexual orientation, economic status or race (Grant Karen 126). As a result there is under representation of women in the workforce, thus rendering them voiceless. Aboriginal women and home care This reading describes women with aboriginal origin as care givers and healers in their families and the community in general (Grant Karen 147). Moreover, they are considered as care service providers, thus they need to be taken care of. However, various factors like lack of services, cultural values and insufficient professional trainings have hindered realization of this achievement. Disabled aboriginal women like other people with disabilities require attention and home care services in their communities. Home care needs to the disabled as well as access to suitable health services are of great importance at all times (Grant Karen 149). According to this reading, everyone in a community has a role to perform and therefore, they should be incorporated in everything concerning home care. Economic, social and political considerations on the other side should be considered when handling Canadian populations. In some cases they act as barriers to solutions of problems affecting the people. Majority of the Aboriginal women face chronic diseases, systemic discrimination and poverty related problems much more than the rest of the population. Therefore, they should be viewed as subjects to the issue of home care program development and policy making. In addition to their values, culture, vision and understandings of health and related issues can be shaped (Grant Karen 154). Home care comprises of professional and home support services. It may also include adult day and meal programs, home maintenance, counseling and Medicare. Aboriginal world views health as a holistic balance maintained between spiritual, physical, emotional and mental features of an individual (Grant Karen 162). It is argued that healing occurs when all individual aspects have been catered for. Nevertheless, care giving has been and continues being integral feature to the Aboriginal people. “Just fed and watered”: women’s experiences of the gutting of home care in Ontario by Jane Arason Effects of economic restructuring, population aging and reforms in health care have increased demands on home care in Canada. The phenomenon of Home care is associated with handling the needs of different people differently due to the nature of one’s need. Thus, the government has to employ variety of approaches to ensure that the needs of its people are well addressed. This is determined by the availability of financial resources for meeting the needs at present time considering other factors which may contribute for or against future generations (Grant Karen 168). However, it is believed that rapid changes have impacted this issue greatly. In the context of Ontario, home care is based on Canadian health act. It is not mentioned nor been authorized as a collective program. Over the years, the use of various approaches concerning this issue has been operational. Ontarion market modeled system approach involves home care managed competition introduced to enhance efficiency and consumer choice to its people, with the aim of reducing social spending and addressing the individual concerns to arrive to solutions. It is through the community care access centers (CCACs) that both profit and non-profit service providers are able to meet the client’s needs accordingly. In addition, the government advanced by introducing legislation in order to convert CCACs to statutory corporations (Grant Karen 170). Organizations such as Ontario health coalition and Ontario coalition of senior citizens work towards supportive and long term home care based. All are mandated to deal with implications and arising issues brought in by different clients. Strengths and Weaknesses On the issue of strengths, the relevant government authorities and personnel have established tailor made programs focusing on the needs and wants of the disabled. According to the writers in this readings, people with disabilities are entitled and their fundamental rights concerned with home based and health care have been looked at. However, not only have they been provided but also been made accessible, responsive, equitable and individual centered to their needs. Furthermore, this has resulted to positive health and home care to the concerned personalities (Grant Karen 156). According to the researches carried out, the welfare to the disabled has increased people’s willingness and ability to care and look after each other. As per the readings, issues and challenges pertaining training Aboriginal women on home care has been a major concern over the years. From the development perspective, it has resulted to increased training and high rates of employment opportunities for women. In addition, there has been an increased quality of general care and financial compensation regarding care works. Communication is considered as a bridge between two entities and is applied in all sectors. In the case of home care for the disabled, language barrier has been a major constrain experienced by care givers as well as service providers (Grant Karen 163). The main challenge and contributor is the low levels of formal education and insufficient knowledge on English as the second language. Interlinking factors of colonization such as poverty and inferior formal education from learning institutions is attributed to this. Therefore, people concerned with Aboriginal home care should put more emphasis on the gap between the educated and uneducated in the communities to counter the mentioned weaknesses. Societal attitudes to women with disabilities have been highlighted in all the readings in this discussion. According to the readings, majority of challenges encountered by the disabled while accessing health and home care largely come from prejudicial social attitudes, exclusion and discrimination related practices of people and organizations (Grant Karen 141). Experiences and attitudes of home care providers as well as medical services professionals towards the disabled are often on the bases of myth rather than facts. At one time these people may experience exclusion, discrimination or inequalities in access to health and home care. The referred weaknesses are in relation to barriers and challenges experienced by people with disabilities. Access to health information by the disabled has been insufficient whereby the insufficiency excludes individuals from the process of making informed decisions which affects their choices in one way or another. Inadequate explanations about health care or home care procedures renders individuals more vulnerable thus make them to feel humiliated, undignified and degraded in the society (Grant Karen 116). Similarities and Differences It is clear that there is similarity shared in all the readings on how to handle the issue of disability with care in relation to health care service providers, caregivers and policy makers. All the writers seem to centralize on the major challenges women with disabilities face, home care and health care. They all together examine how the disabled women experience home care in their localities and the health care conditions (Grant Karen 137). The significance of cultural equivalence to the disabled women is a major factor for consideration to the provision of home care services according to the readings. All writers viewed Culture similarly as an important aspect on home care and health to people with disabilities (Grant Karen 158). It is evident that home care services, according to the readings do not always contribute to the overall health of disabled women and their well being. However, sometimes it affects the health of the individuals. The outcomes of the researches undertaken outlined the clients as actively seeking for health care, struggling with service limitation and dealing with disability related conditions. Moreover, they were also concerned with different ways to manage, survive and adapt to isolation and marginalization. Generally, women (disabled or able) form strong interaction webs which are affected by the impacts of globalization, health and care giving policy, and privatization. Thus, the meaning of home care is different from one individual to another and from one location to another. These differences were clearly indicated within the readings. Each and every writer was more concerned with his or her home locality. Based on their arguments, home based supports enable disabled people to move through social, economical, physical and political conditions to attain their intended goals. Therefore, all the factors mentioned present different views from the writers. The fact that all come from different backgrounds. All the readings considered the use of approaches while handling the issue of home care and health. It is argued that through approaches of definition of disability and the recognition of value of phenomenological descriptions, that home care needs for the disabled and understanding to different cases is reached (Grant Karen 136). In addition, Kari’s reading emphasize on putting in front policy recommendations for improving the lives of women who are disabled. On the bases of analyzing crucial factors in understanding disability and gender, differences between the writers are noted. When handling women issues, self image, gender roles and sexuality plays a significant role. Factors such as ethnicity, class, race, age, sex and gender require attention from all parties involved. These factors have been presented differently by the writers. Work cited Grant, Karen. et al. Caring for/caring about: women, home care, and unpaid care giving. Aurora, Ont.: Garamond Press, 2004. Read More