Research on Physical disability in Nordic countries

Occurrence and cause

  Physical disability refers to a condition that affects the ability of a person to move and control their body in the required manner. This prevents one from being able to perform some tasks as they become limited in terms of the body physical functioning.

 There are several types of physical disabilities as well as different factors that can cause them regardless of the age and gender of the individual. Though the risk factors may vary, mostly physical disabilities can be due to illness, genetic inheritance and injury.

  There are different physical disabilities affecting different parts of the body thus each contributing in affecting a different aspect of the physical functioning. They include:

1.     Mobility difficulties. These are impairments that affects one ability to move or control the body properly. Some conditions that can lead to mobile impairment include cerebral palsy which is injury to the developing brain in an infant during or before birth, acquired brain injury which is caused by an injury to the brain after birth, spinal cord injury can lead to loss of function below the neck or below the chest and spina bifida which is incomplete formation of the spinal cord and amputations can also limit the ability of a person to move. These impairments are mostly caused by accidents, injuries and illnesses that affect the brain and spinal cord.

2.     Sensory impairments. These affect the senses. Visual impairments affect the ability of a person to see and can range from partial blindness to complete blindness. Hearing impairments can lead to deafness or partial hearing. These sensory impairments are mostly caused by injuries, infection, genetic and old age related issues.

3.     Neurological disorders. These are impairments that affect the nervous system mostly, the brain and the spinal cord. They can cause loss of sensation, confusion, seizures and paralysis. Some neurological disorders include stroke, epilepsy, sclerosis and several spinal conditions.

4.     Chronic pain conditions and respiratory issues. Such difficulties like in breathing can hinder one from doing normal tasks and move about in the required manner. Back conditions for example may prevent one from doing tasks that require bending.

5.     Impairments that affect the ability of a person of body coordination and making precise movements. Some of the conditions like arthritis affect the ability of an individual to move their joints, hand or wrist injuries, hearing impairment also hinders ones` ability to balance during running.

            Language difficulties

            These impairment can lead to language difficulties and problems from the way one expresses their opinion to the correct understanding of information. Physical disabilities can lead to language difficulties in the following manner:

1.     Visual impairments hinder the communication process as one might fail to note the body language and other visual cues.

2.     Hearing impairment can hinder one from perceiving sound and recognizing important sound patterns.

3.     Limited use of body language as the conditions affect the ability to move body parts which are essential in speech recognition and passing information thus one may fail to express themselves fully and appropriately.

4.     Less interaction and participation. This conditions may prevent one from interacting with other people since they cannot express their views and have a proper communication flow between the parties involved.

 

Follow-up Difficulties

            People with physical disabilities face a number of difficulties in their lives. These difficulties may arise due to their conditions or the people surrounding them. Some of the challenges and hardships that they face include:

1.     Discrimination and stigma. Some people in the society have negative views of people with disabilities and avoid interacting with them. Some feel burdened and thus avoid responsibility by declining to offer them help. Less interaction lowers their self-esteem and thus people with disabilities are discriminated as no one wants to be associated with them.

2.     Emotional challenges. Feelings of isolation since no one interacts with them easily and abandonment can creep into them and this can lead to emotional issues such as anxiety, depression, stress and low self-esteem. This issues can risk factors for serious mental challenges and can lead to suicide.

3.     Access to physical facilities. Some buildings, transport and accommodation facilities are built without considering people with physical disabilities. These buildings lack ramps and other means for people who have limited motor functions to use apart from stairs. Most organization by trying to cut on cost are denying the impaired people crucial services such as transport.

4.     Inadequate employment opportunities. Some employers may decline employing a person with physical impairment as they doubt whether they will produce and work efficiently and refuse employing them based on their looks and not their merits. The fact that most public spaces, workplaces, transport and accommodation facilities fail to provide for their special needs also creates limited job opportunities for them. Some job that require full body mobility are too hard and complex and cannot be done.

5.     Educational challenges. People with such impairments living in underdeveloped areas may fail to have a good educational background due to lack special schools that can offer to them the education in the way they can understand. Most special schools are found in cities and towns and thus the impaired people in rural areas fail to access them.

6.     Financial constraints. Due to their conditions, their cost of living is usually high than for normal people as they have to buy medicines, specialized diets, pay medical fees, buy assistive devices and increased special schools fees. All these together and the fact that they face inadequate job opportunities from where they can gain the money to fulfill their needs leaves them depending on the goodness of other people and the government.

7.     Healthcare disparities. People with disabilities face health challenges due to the fact that most of their conditions require specialized care and highly trained doctors, this may not be the case in areas or countries that lack the required resources and technology. Health care workers who lack awareness may fail to prioritize their cases and to fully understand their needs. Transport issues also hinder the people with physical disabilities from getting assistance quickly and this can be fatal in some cases.

 

The factors of life

            Quality of life is the individual assessment of ones` life regarding their social status and position, their well-being in the society, their targets, expectations and concerns. Quality of life encompasses all about the life of a person and how satisfied the individual is.

            There are several factors that are used to measure the well-being of an individual. Factors that play into the quality of life include:

1.     Material living conditions. These measure the financial ability and is in terms of the salary income, usage of the income and the possessions an individual has. Income is an important aspect that is used to measure the quality of life as it implies that a family with a higher income is likely to have a higher quality of life as the consumption needs. Possession of materials like buildings also prove that shelter a basic need has been provided thus raising the quality of life of the family.

2.     Employment and productivity. Quantity of employment affects the quality of life as some people fill their work with loads of work while others work for less hours getting paid more than those who work for more hours. Quality of employment in terms of the ethics governing the work environment, working hours, safety, morale, motivation and the balance between work and leisure time. These affect the well-being of an individual as one can be satisfied more by spending less time working, more time with family and friends while earning a reasonable amount of payment, whereas one will fail to be satisfied in a job that requires more hours of productivity, less time with family and friends and less income. Thus employment with a higher quality and a reasonable quantity raises an individual quality of life.

3.     Health. This is a major factor of the quality of life. Poor health affects the well-being of a person and one cannot be satisfied. Health aspects both physical, mental and spiritually when guarded well and ensured by regular checkups, good diet and exercising raises the quality of life of an individual. In case when all the aspects are ignored and an individual engages in negative behavior that affect health negatively like drug abuse, vices and crime this will have an effect of in turn lowering the quality of life of an individual.

4.     Education. Most people use the level of education to determine the success and how promising ones` life can be. People with a higher level of education are deemed to have more skills and are more competent thus their chances to get a job are high and are valued by the community and people around them and their advice is taken seriously. Such an individual will feel good about their position in life. On the other hand, a lower level of education can imply limited knowledge, skills and low competency level. This will mean a limited number of jobs and this lowers the quality of life of an individual in terms of maybe the goals targeted.

5.     Economic and physical safety. Economic safety is when one can handle comfortably any unexpected occurrence in life with the owned wealth. Economic safety affects the quality of life as one can be sure of financial stability over long periods of time and this improves the well-being of someone by the satisfaction of being able to provide for their needs for a long period of time. Physical safety is how people perceive their personal and belonging safety keeping them away in safe places and protecting themselves from crimes and dangerous conditions. All people value physical safety and thus by ensuring it, the quality of life is raised.

6.     Social Relationships. How well a person connects to other people through various interactions can be used to measure the quality of life of an individual as they have a big impact in one well-being. Positive and meaningful interactions between family members, friends, work colleagues, classmates and all the people in the society is necessary since human beings are social beings. Being lonely and in isolation will negatively affect the mindset and the person will be fail to achieve any satisfaction in life. Lack of positive interactions can lead mental health problems like anxiety and depression. To raise the quality of life of an individual positive interactions are to be encouraged.

7.     Environmental factors. The nearby conditions where people live affect how they perceive life and whether they believe to have a good quality of life. People living in good environmental conditions like good climates, improved physical infrastructure, good network systems, easy availability of food and peaceful places perceive to be living better lives. On the other hand, when the environment is chaotic then people living in those areas as not satisfactory.

8.     Personal factors. People are different from each other and thus they will have different goals, beliefs, values and standards. How they perceive all these and whether they are satisfied and are doing well will depend on their attitudes, how flexible and adaptable they are and whether they have good plans and strategies to achieve their goals. An individual with a well outlined plan can feel more satisfied and have a better quality of life than one who goes with the flow.

Quality of Life and people with physical disabilities.

            For most people with disabilities, achieving quality of life always seems impossible due to the difficult challenges they face in life and the lack of efficient support systems to enable them face the challenges in their lives already. Efforts are to be made by individuals, organization and the government to improve the quality of life of the people with physical impairments. Since they have diverse needs and require more specialized factors the people around them opt to help them in trying to ease their already hardened lives.

            Some ways in which the quality of life of people with disabilities can be improved include:

1.     Improving accessibility. By providing accessible environments, from the workplace, transport and accommodation, people with disabilities can engage themselves fully and participate fully in societal roles improving their quality of life.

2.     Improved healthcare services. Ensuring that all medical needs of the physical impaired people are fully catered for, all hospitals are equipped with the correct technology and that assistive devices are easily available as well as the healthcare centers will improve their well-being.

3.     Inclusion and increased social support. By encouraging people to be more welcoming towards the physically impaired, positive relationships can be promoted where they will feel accepted by the community and have a chance to connect and interact with other people. This will help in boosting their confidence, improving their self-esteem. Support networks can help in making sure they are backed up in the correct way and offer mental care to improve their well-being.

4.     Education and employment. Providing specialized education to the physically impaired can help boost their chances of getting employment and achieving financial stability. This enables them unlock their potentials and finally have a sense of purpose and this can help improve their quality of life.

5.     Participation and independence. Individual with physical impairments need to be encouraged to support and participate in all kinds of society events from functions, recreational activities and all other hobbies necessary for their happiness. This will help improve their quality of life.

6.     Advocating for their rights. Having bodies and people that advocate for equal treatment, their rights to be included in activities and promote an environment that can support their well-being.

Housing and people with physical disabilities.

            Independent living describes how well an individual is able to perform daily tasks while requiring minimum or no help from other people. People with disabilities should be encouraged to make their lives more independent and this can be done by providing them with the correct resources to make their transition an easy one.

            Provision of a good housing system will lower the need of a physical impaired person needing help from other people to access the house or various services around. Countries should put in place regulations that are considered during building to ensure the well-being of people with disabilities. Such regulations can include:

1.     Provision of adaptive and assistive technology. With the modern trends they are new upcoming technology that are intended to help people with disabilities. Home automation systems can be installed to help in regulating light and temperature. Alarms, sensors and other sorts of technology should be used to ensure that in case of an emergency other people are immediately alerted.

2.     Promote accessibility. Ramps and removing barriers around the house should help people with disabilities move around the house. They should also have easy access to the community services or their houses situated in areas around healthcare centers.

3.     Safety. Safety needs to be ensured in terms of health, economic and physical safety. People living with such disabilities can sustain injuries while trying to do some roles and it will be beneficial if they can have a specialized personnel like a nurse for immediate interventions in case of a serious injury.

Independent living and the quality of life

            Quality of life involves how the individual perception of their lives. To live a satisfying life most people strive to live independently to make their own decisions and do things and activities in the way they see fit.

            By addressing factors that are listed above on how to improve the quality of life we are increasing the chances that they live an independent life. Independent living can impact the well-being of the individuals by:

1.     Improved self-confidence and esteem. When people with physical disabilities are left to make important decision by themselves they feel they have the ability to decide and this boosts them to believe in their abilities and this helps them to improve their quality of life.

2.     Increased social interactions. Freedom obtained from independent living encourages individuals to interact with others and form relationships that are beneficial to their mental health. Feeling a part of a larger community helps one to feel welcomed and promotes a sense of belonging improving their quality of life.

3.     Personal Development and growth. Independent living enables one to face challenges in life and solve problems on their own. By doing so, people with disabilities learn problem solving skills and other valuable experiences that will help them improve their lives by increasing their knowledge on how to approach matters, steps to take and how to handle the issue.

4.     Increased autonomy. Individuals can make life choices on their own and feel entitled to their lives rather than living with someone who makes their decisions for them. By doing what they feel is right it can help promote their well-being and improve the quality of life.

 

Residential support in Norway

            In Norway, the government and other bodies are trying ways in which the physically impaired can get the support they need and live in the correct environment. Residential support in Norway include:

1.     Rehabilitation centers. These centers are very useful to people with disabilities as they equip them with skills and knowledge necessary to survive in the real world. The government has placed trained personnel that provide specialized care to help the impaired people realize their potential. Other services offered include therapies and how to cope with mental challenges.

2.     Assisted Living Facilities. In case of people with physical impairments who require support due to their condition, these facilities offer trained people including nurses to offer interventions according the patient’s needs and the facilities are well equipped to offer all kinds of support.

3.     Group homes. Physically impaired people with similar needs can be placed in group homes where they can be cared for, this also helps as living with people with similar needs can feel comforting and encourage interactions among them. These homes also have access to social amenities.

4.     Supported living apartments. In case an individual desires a greater level of independence the apartments are available and they can still have access to the necessary support and care as this apartments are well equipped with both trained staff and the necessary equipment to offer support and care.

5.     Personal Assistance Services. The scheme in Norway enables people with disabilities to hire assistants who can help them in their daily tasks and all roles that require the body full functioning.

            The Norwegian Association of Disabled advocates for a society where all the people with disabilities will live and have the same opportunities as other people and this will help them in achieving their goals, potentials and wishes.

            Nobody wants to live with a disability nor did the people affected choose to live in that manner. It can affect anyone. Government, support bodies and all individuals should make it their responsibility to make sure that the disability in their environment are well catered for and that their quality of life is improved.

            By emulating examples of countries such as Norway which has a good support system and regulations that ensure the well-being of the impaired people other countries can better the life and offer good services to them.

            We should take care of each other, and create awareness so that people will know the importance of living while making sure the people affected also have a smile on their face.