Including voice of People with Disabilities

In my community, programs and interventions have often been designed for people with disabilities (PWD) Leaving out the voice. Most often these interventions tend to be ineffective. In our project we included PWD in the design and implementation of the intervention.  This we did through a formative study  where we conducted key informant interviews and focus group discussions with parents of PWD. The focus was on what they will want to see change to say that this intervention was effective. Some of the outcomes of the discussion include seeing their kids go to school without discrimination, being able to support their children’s school need, having access to healthcare, have an income stream to support their daily needs amongst others.

This information helped us in designing our invention around the 5 WHO matrix including health, education, social wellbeing, empowerment and livelihood. The intervention brings evidence based recommendations to families and communities of PWDS on these 5 axis to help families make informed choices that will improve the rights and meet the needs of CWD. Watch webinar recording here https://www.africaevidencenetwork.org/en/learning-space/video/514/