Office on DisabilityNational Leadership Summit on Eliminating and Ethnic Disparities in Health: Pre-Conference Addressing the Healthcare and Wellness Needs of Women of Color with Disabilities, January 2006Conference Presentation: Minding the Gap: Access, Availability, and Services by Gerlene Ross, Ph.D.Slide 1 Minding the Gap: Access, Availability, and Services by Dr. M. Gerlene Ross Slide 2 Overview - Disability Research
- Access Challenges
- Disparity Issues
- Cultural Sensitivity
- Cultural Competency
Slide 3 Disability Research - Shift in ethnic, racial and cultural composition of the U.S.
- Must be a shift in vocational rehabilitation and other service delivery programs
- Service delivery contrast between White Americans vs. Non-White
Slide 4 Minority Disability Rate Race | Percentage | Amer Ind | 23.9% | Black | 21.6% | White | 21.4% | Asian/PI | 16.2% |
Slide 5 Barriers Impacting Racial/Ethnic Women with Disabilities Attitudes - Services Provided
- Resources Employed
- Outcomes
Slide 6 Disparity Issues - Fifty-three million Americans have either a severe or a non severe disability
- Disparities in rates of disability are pronounced for diverse groups
- African Americans 20.0% second only to Hispanics
- African Americans have the highest rate of severe disability of all racial groups
Slide 7 Disparity Issues - Rates of disability are disproportionate in terms of gender
- Women represent more than half of persons with disabilities
- African American women (21.7) are second to Hispanic women (21.8) in disability rate.
- African American women have more multiple disabling conditions
Slide 8 Disparity Issues Cont - Persons with disabilities are less likely to be meaningfully employed
- Severity of Disability impacts employment status as well as quality of employment
- Women are least likely to have employment regardless of disability
- Women with disabilities are at higher risk for unemployment
Slide 9 Cultural Sensitivity - Respect
- Reasonable Accommodations
Slide 10 Cultural Sensitivity - Persons with disabilities are people-treat them with respect
- Having a disability is only one aspect of a person's life
Slide 11 Cultural Sensitivity - Be careful with the language that you use
- Talk directly to the person
- When in doubt ask
Slide 12 Reasonable Accommodations Mobility Disability - True accessibility
- True accessible parking
- Access Ramps
Slide 13 Reasonable Accommodations Hearing Disabilities - Utilizing TDD- Telecommunication Device for the Deaf
- Be familiar with telecommunication abbreviations
- Utilizing an interpreter
Slide 14 Reasonable Accommodations Visual Disabilities - Offer materials in Braille
- Use screen readers, speech synthesizers, scanner systems, TeleBraille, and large format displays.
- Ask if they want assistance
- Do not pet or talk to service animals without permission
Slide 15 Reasonable Accommodations Communication Disabilities - Take time to listen to the person
- Solicit and provide feedback
- Reduce or eliminate background noise
Slide 16 Cultural Competence - Individual-The ability to communicate effectively with individuals representing diverse racial and ethnic heritages
- Organization-The ability to be responsive to diverse cultural, ethnic, or linguistic clientele.
- Research- notes changing demographics, consumer-centered services, and validation as key for increasing cultural competence
Slide 17 Research Needs - Cultural Competence
- Employment
- Community Participation
- Resources
Slide 18 Recommendations & Research Questions-Cultural Competence - Most frequently cited
- Need for Cultural Competence training
- Cultural Competence in service delivery
- Cultural Competence professional prep
- Examine the awareness of cultural factors
- Examine pertinent correlations
- Apply information to racial identity development
Slide 19 Recommendations & Research Questions-Employment - Survey employer awareness of ADA
- Survey attitudes towards PWD's in underserved comm.
- Expand employers for PWD's from underserved comm.
- Enhance employment opportunities in underserved comm.
- Identify strategies that promote and sustain employment
Slide 20 Recommendations & Research Questions-Community Participation - Evaluate accessibility in private and public sector
- Educational services for youth with disabilities in the juvenile justice system.
- Effects of lack of education on service provision.
- Research the impact collaboration on community participation.
Slide 21 Recommendations & Research Questions-Resources - Research the effectiveness of skills development models of research and PAR
- Examine how community-based research methods provide insight
- Identify partnership models that can be developed to facilitate knowledge transfer
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