Mobility challenges of persons with disabilities at a University in Ghana

Evans Kwaku Yayra Ashigbi, Eric Lawer Torgbenu, Anthony Kwame Danso, Eric Paul Tudzi

Abstract


The passage of the Persons with Disability Act, 2006 (Act 715) in Ghana was hailed by many as a giant step toward achieving universal designs and consequently social inclusion and access to convenient built environments for all. Years after the passage of the Act, this study sought to find the extent to which access to Persons with mobility disabilities had been enhanced at the University of Ghana, Ghana’s premier University. A checklist developed from the BS 8300:2010 was used. The simple random and stratified sampling approaches were used to select the structures/ facilities in 2011. This was supplemented by taking measurements and pictures. The study found out that the built environment of the University presented barriers of varying degrees and types to persons with mobility disabilities and that the principles of universal design had not been largely adhered to. Recommendations were accordingly made to help achieve the realisation of universal designs and social inclusiveness on the University’s campus.


Keywords


Mobility Disabilities; Persons with Disability Act 2006; Universal Designs; Built Environment; University of Ghana

Full Text:

PDF

References


World Health Organization (WHO). The International Classification of Functioning. Disability and Health (ICF). Geneva. WHO Press 2001.

World Health Organization (WHO).World Report on Disability. Geneva, WHO Press. 2011

Baris, M. E. and Uslu, A., Accessibility for the disabled people to the built environment in Ankara, Turkey, African Journal of Agricultural Research 2009; Vol. 4 (9): 801-814, Available online at http://www.academicjournals.org/AJAR

United Nations: Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities: United Nations General Assembly, forty-eighth session, resolution 48/96 annex of 20 December, 1993. 1994.

Persons With Disability Act. Act715, Accra: Ghana Publishing Company. 2006

Ghana National Policy on Disability. Ghana Publishing Company, Accra. 2000

Constitution of the Republic of Ghana. Accra: Ghana Publishing Company. 1992

Salvage A. and Zarb G: ‘Gaining access: Disabled people and the physical environment’ Measuring disablement in society-Working paper 2. UK. 1995

Danso, A. K., Ayarkwa, J. and Dansoh, A. State of Accessibility for the Disabled in selected Monumental Public Buildings in Accra, Ghana. The Ghana Surveyor, 2011; 4 (1):1-19

Tudzi, E. P. Educational Property and Facilities Management in Ghana: A NewDawn. In: A. Ahmed, ed. World Sustainable Development Outlook 2006: Global and Local Resources in Achieving Sustainable Development Switzerland: Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, 2006;pp 116-125

Disabled World News, (n.d) - Definition of disability including types of disabilities and the social model of disabilities: Available at: http://www.disabled-world.com/disability/types/#ixzz2QNasLjkF [Accessed 13 April 2013]

British Standard. Design of Buildings and Their Approaches to Meet the Needs of Disabled People – Code of Practice, BSI, London. BS Code 8300: 2010.

United Nations: Realizing the Millennium Development Goals for persons with disabilities towards 2015 and beyond: United Nations General Assembly, sixty-fifth session, resolution 65/186; 2011

Quinn, G., Degener, T., Bruce, A., Burke, C., Castellino, J., Kenna, P., Kilkelly, U., and Quinlivan, S. Human Rights and Disability: The current use and future potential of United Nations human rights instruments in the context of disability, United Nations New York and Geneva. 2002. Available at http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/HRDisabilityen.pdf [Accessed 17 November 2010]

UNESCO. Disabled students at Universities in Africa, UNESCO Sub-Regional Office for Southern Africa Harare, Zimbabwe. 1997. Available at: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0011/001102/110282eo.pdf (Accessed on 17July 2013)

Meyers A.R., Anderson J.J., Miller D.R., Ship K. and Hoeing H. Barriers, Facilitators and Access to Wheelchair users: Substantive and methodological lessons from a pilot study of environmental effects. Social Science in Medicine, 2002;55(8):1435 -1346.

Shumway-Cook A. and Woollacot M. Motor Control: Theory and Practical Applications, Baltimore, MD: Williams and Wilkins. 1995

Clarke, P., Alshire JA. and Lantz P. Urban built environments and trajectories of mobility disability: Findings from a national sample of community-dwelling American adults (1986–2001). Social Science and Medicine 2009;69(6):964-970.

Jackson R. J., and Kochtitzky C. Creating a healthy environment: impact of the built environment on public health. Sprawl Watch Clearinghouse monograph series. 2001. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/healthyplaces/articles/Creating%20A%20Healthy%20Environment.pdf. [Accessed on 17 July 2013)

Koplan J.P., and Fleming, D.W. ‘Current and future public health challenges’. JAMA 2000;284(13): 1696- 1698

Sampson R.J., Morenoff J.D., and Gannon-Rowley T.“Assessing ‘neighborhood effects’: social processes and new directions in research†Annual Review of Sociology, 2002;28: 443–478.

Barnes C. Disabled people in Britain and discrimination; A Case for Anti Discrimination Legislation, London, C Hurst. 1991

Lysack, J. T., Wyss, U. P., Packer, T. L., Mulholland, S. J., &Panchal, V: Designing appropriate rehabilitation technology: a mobility device for women with ambulatory disabilities in India. International Journal of Rehabilitation Research, 1999; 22(1): 1-9.

Beard, J. R., Blaney, S., Cerda, M., Fryel,V., Lovasi, G. S., Ompad, D., Rundle, A., and Vlahov, D. Neighborhood Characteristics and Disability in Older Adults, The Journal of Gerontology : Series B, 2009;Volume 64B, Issue 2, pp 252-257 Available at: http://psychsocgerontology.oxfordjournals.org/content/64B/2/252.short

Bowling A. and Stafford M. How do Objective and Subjective Assessments of Neighbourhood Influence Social and Physical Functioning in Older Age? Findings from a British Survey of Aging. Social Science and Medicine; 2007;64(12), 2533–2549.

Clarke, P. J., Lawrence, J. M., and Black, S. E. Changes in quality of life over the first year after stroke: Findings from the Sunnybrook stroke study. Journal of Stroke & Cerebrovascular Diseases, 2000;9 (3): 121-127

Clarke P., Marshall VW., Black SE. and Colantonio A. Well-being following stroke in Canadian seniors: Findings from Canadian Study of Health and Aging. Stroke, 2002;33(4):1016-1021.

Vandebelt D.‘Disabilities Universal Design’ (Waterloo Region Trends Research Project). Social Planning Council of Cambridge and North Dumfries. 2001;pp 1-11.

Center for Universal Design (nd). About the center, The center for universal design, NC State University, Available at: http://www.ncsu.edu/ncsu/design/cud/about_us/usronmace.htm [ Accessed 4 July 2013]

Reagan, J.‘A Perspective on Universal Design.’ Excerpt of a presentation made by Ronald L. Mace, FAIA, at Designing for the 21st Century: An International Conference onUniversal Design, June 19, 1998, Hofstra University,Hempstead, New York. 1998. Available at http://www.ncsu.edu/ncsu/design/cud/about_us/usronmacespeech.htm [Accessed 24 July 2013]

Connell, B., Jones, M., Mace, R., Mueller, J., Mullick, A., Ostroff, E., Sanford, J., Steinfeld, E., Story, M., &Vanderheiden, G. The principles of universal design: Version 2.0. Raleigh, NC: The Center for Universal Design. 1997. Available at: http://www.ncsu.edu/ncsu/design/cud/about_us/usronmace.htm [Accessed 15 July 2013]

Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC). International best practices in universal design, a global review. 2006. Available online at http://www.gaates.org/documents/BP_en.pdf [Accessed 22 July 2013]

United Nations: The way forward: a disability-inclusive development agenda towards 2015 and beyond: 2013. United Nations General Assembly, Report of the Secretary-General, Sixty-eighth session, A/68/95, 14 June 2013.

National Building Regulations. LI 1630, Accra: Ghana Publishing Company. 1996

Syme S.‘New Building Code at Draft Stage’ Daily Graphic, 12 May, 2011;p16.


Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.




Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

ISSN: 2454-6623