People That Living with Disability - Report Example

A Case Study of People Living with Disability Table of Contents Table of Contents 1 People Living with Disability 2 Description of the client needs 2 Evaluation of options for service delivery 3 New program proposal 5 Potential source of funding and rationale for asking for funding 8 Estimated cost of project 9 Assessment plan 10 References 11 People Living with Disability Description of the client needs Disability is a compound, contested, developing notion. Definition of disability is significant since it can basically influence the lives of people with disabilities by, for instant, eligibility criteria for programs and settlement, legislation policies as (VicHealth 2012) defines. Australia has a history and many examples of struggling people with disability besieged for quality of life, opportunity and equal life. They are too often left behind despite possessing experience and skills of great value. Australia ranks very poorly among the organization for economic cooperation and development (OECD 2009), at position 21 out of the 29 countries for employment participation for people with disability. Further more about forty five percent of the people living with disability here in Australia live below or near poverty line this statistics indicate an action plan need to be put in place to improve the condition. Australia is a well developed country, where the citizens have an opportunity to go around and dream without any limit. Despite this there is a disadvantaged group of people living in Australia facing some severe problems, people with disability. Other people take them for granted and are not given basic rights let alone having to lead a good life as (Bennett 2011) report indicates. There are approximately four million people living with disability in Australia, and one in two (45%) live below the poverty line according to this report. They are unfairly treated and or face the risk of neglecting from other people as well as the government. This is also tinted in the productivity commission report. The necessity for altering the disability experience in Australia is evident. Change must take place at the highest level for progress to be experienced at the level of the individual. This necessity to do something now is not deniable; it is needed for the purpose of economic safety and security of the people with disability. There is need for culture shift and attitude for Australians living with disability. Understanding their needs and having sympathy to them in order to actively encourage and champion them towards a better quality and affordable life. The largest challenge is to make available an environment for transformation which will permit shift of culture across each and every part of the society in Australia as (OECD 2009) continues to describe. More access to the economy as well as society has been the worst for people living with disability in Australia, commitment for giving and providing fairness and decency. People must devote in genuine change which will give dignity and power to people with disability. According to (NDIS 2011) the need for change is because Australians have performed very poorly in cultural terms and outcome for people with disability together with their cares and families. Some of the things that need to be done for people with disability is; provide an entitlement instead of welfare based access, changing the material environment and culture, openly changing mainstream and specialist disability services and interact with them. These four issues will change positively the perception of people with disability. Evaluation of options for service delivery Need for technology and equipments for persons with disability. Unlike elsewhere in the countries of Australia caliber where they are provided with legislated rights to the equipments, aids and technology here in Australia they don’t have access to them. (Bennett 2011) explains that they find it extremely difficult and sometimes impossible to access them despite some of them being essential to their daily lives. This compromises their independent life as a result of this. They need them to participate in normal community life fully. This problem of eligibility for aids and equipments deny them their right to participate and live independently like other normal people. The quality of members of staff in the disability service sector is wanting. Many respondents in the (Garran 2009) report noted their frustrations on the quality of the staff. This was becouse of the poor services the staff was providing to them. they argued that they are poorly trained, lack understanding, they are not sensitive to issues of disability making them (staff in disability service sector) to offer inferior and inadequate services, some of them acted negligently towards the persons with disability, suprisingly more than twenty two precent of the respodents noted problems in staffing representing a lot of difficulties in their lives. Poor remuneration, poor working conditions and lack of trainig make the sector not to attract and retain quality and qualified staff. This makes the sector to be understaffed increasing presure on the available staff who are already over stretched. Improved training in both education and health sectors will ensure the needs of persons with disability and their families are met apropriatly. Lack of support services. Getting specialist services for people with disability, carers their friends and family is very difficult. (DHSSPS 2004) explains that they are not like the other services, they are specialised for specific needs of every persons with disability. To some extect the disability services acted as a barier to their paticipation in activities rather than a facilitator. Persons with disability also need belongingness (social need). As the report says many people with disability are lonely and isolated, they live exclusively, some in build enviroments to restrict their movements to mingle with people and participate in communal activities. For some the barrier is attitudial and social. While others share the importance of sharing experinces in details some persons with disability are left in exclusion and oppresion. (FAHCSIA 2011) also explains that they struggle for meaningful engagement with the others in the community, taboos as well as intimacy hamper the persons with interlectual problem to make connections and enjoy the same rights as others in the society. They are isolated. Also not all have people to take care of them,they depend on the their families commitment. The family members provide somewhere to live, food, search for suitable services and programs, stand up for their rights and move them around as they cant go on their own. Their families are the ones who feel the gap in the raising of the person with a disability, they have to make a budget for them and ensure that they live life meaningfully and independently as (Selepak 2008) puts it. They feel the very real issue in the provision of services and support systems. New program proposal Fairness – persons living with disability have equal rights. (Afia 2008) notes that the margins of recognition among those with disability are very low in spite of the universal recognition of all races, creeds and colours being established. Facilitation, people with disability need to be facilitated, as the report continues to say they are arguably the most disadvantaged among the Australians in the society. Need for having a life time think about and support system for people living with disability. Some of the proposed schemes for service delivery as outlined by (Garran 2009) are; national reimbursement for people with unending impairment, a national insurance method for all persons with disability which is comparable to medicare system to fund their care and support systems, national insurance system with no age limit for terribly injured persons, an insurance scheme to cater for recently acquired disability which is similar to that one of terribly injured insurance, and finally an insurance scheme for people with acquired disability through an accident. These measures and proposals, as (Baltimore 2012) report puts, would eliminate systems inefficiencies and commit a greater dedication of resources to early involvement and to maintain these services which also maximizes on independence and potential. Reducing poverty as well as the cost of living with disabilities will improve their life style. Another option for service delivery is implementation of harmer pension review and the Henry review of taxes. Disability maintenance pension ought to be extended to accommodate and include other allowances like the carer allowances and carer payment. This should be based on modeling of the true costs of disability and caring (indirect costs like earnings forgone, contributions and interest of superannuation should be included). When disability support pension is tiered to reflect the disability associated costs it will make them to secure their future as well as for those who take care of them. As some respondents in the (Garran 2009) report said the allowances should be tax exempt based on assesment and not meanstested. By this the high costs associated with disability would be met and or rebated making people living with disability to meet the expenses. This will eliminate the gap existing between the level of income and the csts of disability. This is a restricting factor preventing people with disability to mingle independently and also enjoy modern standards of living. Another problem of inflexibility in the application process of disability support system and its criterion would be solved. The signifivant financial costs (increased fee for suport services and transport) involved in transition from the support pension to paid employment would be scraped. Health and stigma of the people with disability. (Hunt 2010) explains on stigma, greator funding in the health care to ensure that all their health needs have been taken care of people with disability are required to meet some of their health care needs which is cumbersome to them as they can not be able to raise funds for this. some are unable to live with stigma related to disability.Other expansion of health care card system will improve access as well as affordability and increased sudsidies for more complex medications. The training of the health care providers need also to be trained on how to handle and treate persons with disability. This would solve the gap existing in the awareness of mental health needs and treatement of the same. Transport is another major problem afecting people living with disability as (AAPD 2012) explains. Many people are not aware of intellectual disability especially with age and this is a hindrance for future planning as explained by (DHSSPS 2004). Early intervention especially for children with disability is very important as they will grow up to reach their full potential (baring that most children only get few hours of support in a week). This will enable their parents to help them avoid stress anger and resentlement. It will not only ensure optimal outcomes but also will reduce associated costs of support over their life time as (Smith 2008) outlines. Provision of housing needs is crucial. According to (WHO 2011) to solve lack of choice in the housing sector, as many respondents claimed, there need to be resourcing and development of alternative models for housing. Injecting funds and considerably increase accommodation options will relieve persons with disability. Creativity is also important when developing these houses as persons with disability need special facilities (receptive to individual requirements and way of life). This will enable them to live independently in their own homes freeing their care takers to do other work. The government can develop lower cost accommodation for people with intellectual disability, bring in support services and accommodation which is managed by people with disability, build up outcome based appearance indicators with enforceable principles for all forms of somewhere to live as part of accrediting it and make public housing available for people living with disability. As before this will remove the gap in housing need between people with disability and the other people who do not have disability. These persons will not be ‘warehoused’ as some respondents said in the report. Potential source of funding and rationale for asking for funding As (OECD 2009) explains commitment to funding governance and support mechanism that supports persons living with disability is needed. An incredibly real and apparent catalyst in initiating the right plan is to finance it sufficiently and reliably, based on outcomes and alternatives. This funding can come from different sources. A lot of organizations have shown interest in the upgrading and improvement of lifestyle of the persons living with disability. The government is supposed to play the front role in the development of the whole system. People with disability need basic wants (food, clothing’s and shelter), education, good health provision, social security, employment opportunities, social well being and community participation. To have all this all stake holders must be involved in terms of funding. The following are the potential source of funding and their rationale for asking funds. The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) of Australia - This scheme was put up by the productivity commission in the report disability care and support handed to government on 31st July 2011. The funding by this scheme is overdue; being an unlimited requirement to Australians living with disability obligations are to be fulfilled. This will facilitate necessary changes while the fundamental alteration of mainstream services, cultural mores and infrastructure are to be provided by the government. The government – the government plays the biggest part in the development and implementation of disability obligations. The government must put up the necessary infrastructure in houses and education facilities train the health providers and provide guidance and counseling to change cultural mores as (Deloite 2011) explains. State governments are faced by development funding of up to 10% every year for disability because of pressures expressed above shared with other pressures such as the population growth and old age. In between 2004–2005 and between 2009–2010 Australia experienced 47% growth in the number of people using disability support services. Over the five-year period, this represents an 8% per annum compound growth rate. The government must decide on one of two options to implement as (Bennett 2011) continues to explain. Finding the extra funding, as distinguished in Productivity Commission’s report, the government’s income base is doubtful to be capable to attain this level of augment, mainly bearing in mind the considerable increases probable in infrastructure and health funding needed. Providing disability support services just to those mainly in want, though in effect, this is what had been in occurrence there before until the current acknowledgment of the ‘predicament of disability’, and that it has been creating the loss spiral effect. Estimated cost of project Non-government organizations – they will be relied upon to come up with innovative support initiatives which are self centred when at the same time funding individually and to assist in developing community capacity as well as the skills of the workforce. They have in the past been able to rally community to support disability related supports by raising funds to value add the services. As PC estimates, $6.5 million is needed to provide persons living with disability the necessary support. According to (Smith 2008) non-governmental organizations would not be able to have all this funds alone. So a national funding model is required based on estimates of the support needed to support people with disability, that fund and supports in good manner, support active involvement by people with disability, supports the care takers and NGOs and cost appreciation and manages risk. Family and care takers – around two and a half million persons in Australia were offering informal care to persons with disability in year 2003 of which roughly twenty percent were offering major care to them. They are more likely to be in the poorest two fifths of all households and about 55 per cent to obtain income maintenance as their major source of money income. The majority primary care takers (71 per cent) are women as (Deloite 2011) concludes. Assessment plan As (WHO 2012) recommends if all the stakeholders together with the persons living with disability play their part to fulfillment, the action plan outlined would be achieved. The NDSI have pet in place a ten year action plan to ensure that persons with disability rights are respected like of the other people in the community. Research is necessary for rising public perception about disability, informing disability plan and programmes, and proficiently allocating funds. More research is required, not only fort the lives of people with disabilities, but also for the social barriers, and the way these can be trounced. References AAPD 2012 The leadership conference education fund Equity in Transportation for People with Disabilities New Yolk. Afia, A & King, M 2008 British Journal of Psychiatry A measure of perceived stigma in people with intellectual disability London. Baltimore, N 2012 social security department disability report - adult SSA-3368-BK New Yolk. Bennett, C 2011 PriceWaterhouseCoopers Disability Expectations Canberra. Deloite 2011 Access Economics the economic benefit of increasing employment for people with disability Sydney. DHSSPS 2004 Equality Commission health and social wellbeing: disability & mental health Durblin. FAHCSIA 2011 CanPrint Communications Disability and Carers Victoria. Garran, R 2009 shut out: The Experience of People with Disabilities and their Families in Australia. Retrieved 5 23, 2013, from Australia government Department of families, housing , comminity services and indegenous affairs: http://www.fahcsia.gov.au/our-responsibilities/disability-and-carers/publications-articles/policy-research/shut-out-the-experience-of-people-with-disabilities-and-their-families-in-australia?HTML Hunt, P 2010 University of Essex Stigma The Experience of Disability London. NDIS 2011 National disability insurance scheme National Disability Strategy Canberra. OECD 2009 Organisation for economic cooperation and development OECD employment outlook Victoria. Selepak, L 2008 selepklynn challenges facing people with disability from culturally and linguistically diverse background monograph Victoria. Smith, F 2008 Brotherhood of St Laurence Australians with disabilities and social inclusion;Getting on the agenda Victoria. VicHealth 2012 VicHealth’s Strategy Disability and health inequalities in Australia Carlton South. WHO 2012 Department of Violence and Injury Prevention and Disability, World Health Organization world report on disability Appia. WHO & World Bank 2011 World Health Organisation and World Bank World Report on Disability Geneva. Read More