Jane Tracy

The Interaction with Disabled Persons scale: Revisiting its internal consistency and factor structure, and examining item-level properties

The Interaction with Disabled Persons scale (IDP) has been used in research into baseline attitudes and to evaluate whether a shift in attitudes towards people with developmental disabilities has occurred following some form of intervention. This research has been conducted on the assumption that the IDP measures attitudes as a multidimensional construct and has good internal consistency. Such assumptions about the IDP appear flawed, particularly in light of failures to replicate its underlying factor structure. The aim of this study was to evaluate the construct validity and dimensionality of the IDP. This study used a prospective survey approach. Participants were recruited from first and second year undergraduate university students enrolled in health sciences, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, community and emergency health, nursing, and combined degrees of nursing and midwifery, and health sciences and social work at a large Australian university (n=373). Students completed the IDP, a 20-item self-report scale of attitudes towards people with disabilities. The IDP data were analysed using a combination of factor analysis (Classical Test Theory approach) and Rasch analysis (Item Response Theory approach). The results indicated that the original IDP 6-factor solution was not supported. Instead, one factor consisting of five IDP items (9, 11, 12, 17, and 18) labelled Discomfort met the four criteria for empirical validation of test quality: interval level scaling (scalability), unidimensionality, lacked of DIF across the two participant groups and data collection occasions, and hierarchical ordering. Researchers should consider using the Discomfort subscale of the IDP in future attitude research since it exhibits sound measurement properties.

Health and Disability: Partnerships in Health Care.

BACKGROUND Despite awareness of the health inequalities experienced by people with intellectual disability, their health status remains poor. Inequalities in health outcomes are manifest in higher morbidity and rates of premature death. Contributing factors include the barriers encountered in accessing and receiving high-quality health care. AIMS This paper outlines health inequalities experienced by people with intellectual disability and focuses on the opportunities medical education provides to address these. Strategies to ensure that health professional education is inclusive of and relevant to people with disabilities are highlighted. CONCLUSIONS The barriers experienced by people with intellectual disabilities to the receipt of high-quality health care include the attitudes, knowledge and skills of doctors. Improving medical education to ensure doctors are better equipped is one strategy to address these barriers. Improving health enhances quality of life, enables engagement and optimizes opportunities to participate in and contribute to the social and economic life of communities. ACCESSIBLE ABSTRACT People with intellectual disabilities sometimes find it difficult to get the healthcare they need to stay well. Teaching student doctors about what people with disabilities want and need can help these students become better doctors. Good doctors help people get well and stay healthy and active. When people feel well they can enjoy their lives and join in activities in their community. This article talks about some of the things doctors need to learn, and some ways to teach them. People with disabilities have a very important role in teaching student doctors.

DVD-based stories of people with developmental disabilities as resources for inter-professional education.

Purpose. The use of DVD stories about people with developmental disabilities within inter-professional education (IPE) across healthcare disciplines was evaluated. Methods. First year healthcare students (n == 241) from an IPE unit responded to an attitude scale before and after viewing and discussing a DVD portraying the life and healthcare needs of an adult with cerebral palsy; a third round of data collection occurred later. Qualitative data were obtained from four first year and six second year tutors who discussed student reactions to the DVD. Six first year and four second year students participated in focus groups following viewing of a second DVD, about a young girl with developmental disabilities and complex health needs. Results. ANOVA of the attitude scores did not show significant differences from pre- to post-viewing and discussion of the DVD, nor at a third round of data collection. Qualitative analysis revealed that the DVDs did cause students to shift assumptions, perceptions and understanding of the disabilities depicted, and to learn about their own and other professions. Conclusions. DVD scenarios of real people with developmental disabilities in real settings offer a means of providing IPE opportunities. The data also point to the need and directions for the development of a new attitudinal measure.

Health and disability: Interprofessional education of healthcare students

Disability affects most people at some time in their life. In 2003, one-fifth of the Australian population reported an impairment or activity limitation and 3.9% (677,700) reported the need for ongoing assistance with self-care, mobility or communication (AIHW, 2006). As the population ages, more Australians will be affected by disability. People with disabilities and their carers, therefore, make up a significant proportion of any healthcare provider’s practice population. The focus of the project presented in this report is people with developmental disabilities: those arising from differences in neurological functioning caused by atypical brain development or injury to the brain before birth or during childhood, resulting in lifelong functional difficulties. Developmental disabilities include, for example, intellectual disability, cerebral palsy and autism, and are associated with significant health inequalities when compared to the general community (Scheepers, et al., 2005). These inequalities relate to many health conditions remaining unrecognised and/or receiving suboptimal treatment (Durvasula & Beange, 2001). Major obstacles to adequate healthcare include inherent communication difficulties and professionals’ limited knowledge of, and negative attitudes towards, this group (Lennox et al., 2000). This report describes a project for undergraduate students aimed at improving their knowledge of and attitudes to people with developmental disabilities and at demonstrating how interprofessional collaborative care could address the health inequalities experienced by this group.

Supporting Nick to Make Decisions: An Exploration of Ways to Promote Choice and Control

This article focuses on both the importance and challenges of decision-making for people with intellectual disabilities, using the example of one young man, Nick, as the context for discussion of these issues. Nick is a young man with significant physical and intellectual disability. He has a severe communication impairment and uses a range of Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) strategies to express himself. The article is written by Nicks mother and uses examples from family life to explore the daily tensions in, and opportunities for, choice making.Communication is at the core of decision-making, and examples of enablers and barriers to successful communication are given. Nicks cognitive abilities impact on the complexity of decisions he can make, the circumstances in which he can make those decisions, and which decisions are relevant and appropriate for him. Supporting Nick in decision making therefore requires an intimate understanding of his personality, his strengths and weaknesses, ...

Building Partnerships between Service Providers and Families of People with Disabilities: One Family's Journey

There is nothing extraordinary about our story. In fact, it is its very ordinariness that makes it important. Details vary but the stories of countless other families echo the general themes of our...