For persons with disabilities, their impairments lead to many inconveniences in their daily life. Luckily, assistive technology devices can help compensate functional limitations and enable them to participate in the activities of daily life. In 2010, there were 126,693 disabilities in the Kaohsiung area. Subsidies provided by Kaohsiung city government and Kaohsiung county government reach respectively NT$39,145,000 and NT$ 25,489,000 in 2010. Nevertheless, such great amount of money invested does not work as it has been expected. There appear to remain a number of barriers. One such example would be that persons with disabilities lack the knowledge about assistive technology, so they do not know where to ask for help in the first place. On the other hand, lack of consideration for the needs of a person with disability result in them getting inappropriate assistive technology devices. These problems deserve the attention of government and related associations. This research aims to solve the problems between the supply and demand of assistive technology devices or services. It reviews and studies papers concerning the same issue in an attempt to create a new service platform. This platform is created according to information and suggestion gathered from experts of this field and voice from users of assistive devices. Their voices and assessments provide valuable direction to shape this new platform. This research assesses the possibility of this new assistive technology service platform from several aspects, including its political, legislative, supplying, and demanding dimensions. The purpose of this study is to reorganize diverse resources to provide a more convenient information-gathering method and to offer a complete service for disabilities people.

Nors galimybė dirbti yra traktuojama kaip viena pagrindinių asmens teisių bei visaverčio gyvenimo prielaidų, tačiau neįgalieji vis dar patiria rimtus adaptacijos darbo rinkoje sunkumus. Tam, kad užtikrinti ne tik pačių neįgaliųjų bet ir visos visuomenės socialinį bei ekonominį gerbūvį, labai svarbu suprasti ir palyginti, kaip neįgaliųjų padėtį bei galimybes darbo rinkoje traktuoja darbdaviai, darbuotojai ir patys neįgalieji. Tokių tyrimų stoka Lietuvoje neleidžia tiksliai įvertinti realios situacijos, bei neįgaliųjų galimybių kintančioje darbo rinkoje. Visa tai leido suformuluoti tyrimo problemą: asmenų su fizine negalia integracijos darbo rinkoje galimybių vertinimas darbdavių, darbuotojų ir pačių neįgaliųjų požiūriu. Problemos suformulavimas leido iškelti tokią hipotezę: darbdavių, darbuotojų ir neįgaliųjų netinkamas asmenų su fizine negalia darbo rinkos galimybių traktavimas, stipriai apsunkina asmenų su fizine negalia integraciją darbo rinkoje. Tyrimo problema ir hipotezės iškėlimas leido apibrėžti tyrimo objektą: asmenų su fizine negalia galimybių darbo rinkoje vertinimą darbdavių, darbuotojų ir neįgaliųjų požiūriu. Iškeltai tyrimo hipotezei patikrinti buvo siekiama tikslo: išanalizuoti asmenų su fizine negalia integracijos darbo rinkoje galimybes darbdavių, darbuotojų ir neįgaliųjų požiūriu. Siekiant užsibrėžto tikslo darbe buvo keliami tokie tyrimo uždaviniai: 1. Ištirti, kaip asmenų su fizine negalia integracijos darbo rinkoje galimybes vertina I, II ir III-čios... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Even if possibility to work is treated as one of the main person’s right and regular prerequisite of life, however persons with disabilities still have hard experience in labour market. For that reason, it is very important to understand and compare how employers, employees and disabled people treat the facilities of people with physical disabilities in labour market, then we could make social and economic goodness not only for disabled, but for all social. The lack of research like this in Lithuania, do not let strictly value the real situation and facilities of disabled in variable labour market. All this let me to formulate the problem of this research: the evaluation of integration facilities of people with physical disabilities in labour market from employers, employees and disabled people attitude. This problem let me to moot this hypothesis: wrong treat of people with physical disabilities labour market’s facilities from employers, employees and disabled peoples, makes harder integration for people with physical disabilities in labour market. The problem or research and mooted hypothesis let me to describe the object of research: the facilities evaluation of employers, employees and disabled people. Because of need to examine for mooted hypothesis, it was fallowing for this purpose: to exam the facilities of people with physical disabilities in labour market from employers, employees and disabled people attitude. At fallowing for this study, it was posed these... [to full text]

Using Dorothy Smith’s institutional ethnographic approach to doing research, I explore through interviews with disabled workers how workplace accommodation policies, such as the New Policy on the Duty to Accommodate Employees with Disabilities in the Federal Public Service and the Department of Fearless Advice’s Workplace Accommodation policy, work. Starting from the standpoint of disabled employees, I map out what happens when a disabled federal public service employee activates one of these policies. I also show that the audit-based compliance evaluation process developed by the Canadian Human Rights Commission to safeguard government Departments/Agencies against systemic discrimination actually facilitates discrimination. These textually-mediated ruling relations situate the problems that disabled workers encounter in the workplace in their biological makeup, rather than in the Government of Canada’s unwillingness to transform their workplaces to meet the needs of all types of workers, as legislated by the Eldridge and Meiorin Supreme Court of Canada decisions. I show, further, that the on-line recruitment process used to select employees into the federal public service encodes normality, thereby discriminating against disabled workers. I also demonstrate that, although federal public service accommodation policies accomplish the legal obligation of the employer not to discriminate against disabled workers, the individualization of accommodations forces disabled workers to take it upon themselves to find ways and means in which to fit into workplaces that have not been designed to meet their needs. I conclude by proposing that in order to change this situation and to counteract the unprecedented number of human rights complaints that have been brought against the Government of Canada for discrimination on the prohibited ground of disability, disabled workers need to follow in the militant footsteps of Canadian First Nations peoples. / Doctor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Studies

Aim: The overall aim of this thesis was to generate further knowledge about prosthetic and orthotic services in developing countries. In particular, the thesis focused on patient mobility and satisfaction with prosthetic and orthotic devices, satisfaction with service delivery, and the views of staff regarding clinical practice and education. Methods: Questionnaires, including QUEST 2.0, were used to collect self-reported data from 83 patients in Malawi and 139 patients in Sierra Leone. In addition, 15 prosthetic/orthotic technicians in Sierra Leone and 15 prosthetists/orthotists in Pakistan were interviewed. Results: The majority of patients used their prosthetic or orthotic devices (90% in Malawi, and 86% in Sierra Leone), but half of the assistive devices in use needed repair. Approximately one third of patients reported pain when using their assistive device (40% in Malawi and 34% in Sierra Leone). Patients had difficulties, or could not walk at all, with their prosthetic and/or orthotic device in the following situations; uneven ground (41% in Malawi and 65% in Sierra Leone), up and down hills (78% in Malawi and 75% in Sierra Leone), on stairs (60% in Malawi and 66% in Sierra Leone). Patients were quite satisfied or very satisfied with their assistive device (mean 3.9 in Malawi and 3.7 in Sierra Leone out of 5) and the services provided (mean 4.4 in Malawi and 3.7 in Sierra Leone out of 5), (p<0.001), but reported many problems (418 comments made in Malawi and 886 in Sierra Leone). About half of the patients did not, or sometimes did not, have the ability to access services (71% in Malawi and 40% in Sierra Leone). In relation to mobility and service delivery, orthotic patients and patients using above-knee assistive devices in Malawi and Sierra Leone had the poorest results. In Sierra Leone, women had poorer results than men. The general condition of devices and the ability to walk on uneven ground and on stairs were associated with both satisfaction of assistive devices and service received. Professionals’ views of service delivery and related education resulted in four themes common to Sierra Leone and Pakistan: 1) Low awareness and prioritising of prosthetic and orthotic services; 2) Difficulty managing specific pathological conditions and problems with materials; 3) The need for further education and desire for professional development; 4) Desire for improvements in prosthetic and orthotic education. A further two themes were unique to Sierra Leone; 1) People with disabilities have low social status; 2) Limited access to prosthetic and orthotic services. Conclusion: High levels of satisfaction and mobility while using assistive devices were reported in Malawi and Sierra Leone, although patients experienced pain and difficulties when walking on challenging surfaces. Limitations to the effectiveness of assistive devices, poor comfort, and limited access to follow-up services and repairs were issues that needed to be addressed. Educating prosthetic and orthotic staff to a higher level was considered necessary in Sierra Leone. In Pakistan, prosthetic and orthotic education could be improved by modifying programme content, improving teachers’ knowledge, improving access to information, and addressing issues of gender equality.

in English - The Employment of Persons with Disabilities in the Czech Republic The topic of the thesis is the matter of employment of persons with disabilities in the Czech Republic. I selected this topic based on both my own work experience in this area, especially trainings for disabled persons, as well as provision of advice to persons with disabilities and insight gained during the above- mentioned activities as well as my efforts to deepen the related knowledge in the area. Based on the activities in this field of law I learned about problematic aspects, problematic and old legislation, frauds in the area of substitute performance and secondary problems related to employment of persons with disabilities, especially in the area of numerous changes in the area of cards for special benefits or compensatory aids. The more problems I knew about, the more I was convinced that I wanted to deal with them in my scientific work. Another reason was that within the primary research I learned that no professional publication was published in past five years. So, I would be pleased if this thesis contributed to development of labour law and social security law. The thesis is composed of eight parts. The first part deals with the definition of the concepts "person with disabilities", "disability", and other...

Resumé The topic of my thesis is the employment of people with disabilities. In the thesis I deal with legal status of persons with disabilities and the instruments for protection and support in the area of employment. The thesis is divided into the introduction, nine chapters divided further into sub-chapters and sections, the conclusion and the annexes. The first chapter defines the term person with disability under international law, specifically in documents of International Labour Organisation, World Health Organisation, United Nations Organisation, Council of Europe, and under Czech legal system. In the second chapter I deal with the provisions of working conditions of persons with disabilities under the above international organisations. Furthermore, this chapter presents the actual actions of Council of Europe in the area of the rights of persons with disabilities. The third chapter briefly covers the European Union legislation of employment of people with disabilities The fourth chapter covers the fundamental rights and the principles related to employment of people with disabilities. The fifth chapter deals with the provisions of Labour Code, which impose obligations on employers employing people with disabilities, and further with the significant provisions of remuneration and its changes...

Doctor Legum - LLD / In recent years, the rights of persons with disabilities have received substantial attention both in South Africa and internationally. While certain rights have received widespread coverage, other rights have not yet been examined to determine the importance thereof for persons with disabilities and to establish the best way in which these rights can be implemented. A right which has not yet been examined in detail is the right to social protection, as guaranteed by Article 28 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Social protection involves the provision of financial support as well as certain services in order to ensure that persons with disabilities are able to participate in society on an equal basis with others. One of the essential components of the right to social protection is the provision of adequate social security for persons with disabilities. Since detailed research on the scope and content of Article 28 has not yet been undertaken, this thesis will investigate what is required of states in relation to the provision of social security in terms of Article 28 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In addition, the current provision made for social security for persons with disabilities in South Africa will be examined and evaluated. The investigation into the current social security measures for persons with disabilities in South Africa will commence with the Constitution and proceed to a detailed examination of relevant legislation. Similar legislation and policies from other jurisdictions will also be considered in order to gauge whether any lessons may be learned from the approach taken in these jurisdictions where they differ from the South African approach.

Magister Legum - LLM

Bakgrund: Det är brist på studier av vårdgivarnas behov i södra Asien. Studien kommer förhoppningsvis att leda till bättre vård för personer med funktionshinder och arbetsmiljö för vårdgivarna. Syfte: Beskriva vårdgivares erfarenheter i vård av funktionshindrade. Metoder: Semi-strukturerade bandade intervjuer genomfördes med vårdgivare. Vårdgivare definierades som vem som helst över arton år på alla utbildningsnivåer med erfarenhet av vård av funktionshindrade. Intervjuerna genomfördes i två boenden, ett sjukhus och ett rehabiliteringscenter i Katmandu. Den engelska data transkriberades i verbatim och analyserades med hjälp av kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultat: De upptäckta kategorierna var dagliga livet, långsiktiga förändringar, organisation och uppfattning. Slutsatser: Tillgång till utbildning, rehabilitering, sysselsättning och kollektivtrafik behövs. Ökad tillgång till hjälpmedel är också efterfrågad. En samhällsförändring med förbättrad kunskap om funktionshinder, ökad acceptans och strukturer för att undvika inkomstförlust.Nyckelord: Nepal, omvårdnadsbehov, personer med funktionshinder, vårdgivare / Background: There is a lack of studies made on the needs of caregivers of persons with disabilities in south asia. The study will hopefully lead to better care for persons with disabilities and work environment for the caregivers. Aim: The aim was to describe the experiences from caregivers about caring for people with disabilities. Methods: Semi-structured taped interviews were conducted with caregivers. Eight caregivers were interviewed, one was a physiotherapist, three were employed caregivers and four were relatives. Six interviews were in nepali with a translator and two in english. Caregivers were defined as anyone above eighteen years at any level of education with experience of providing care for persons with disabilities. The interviews were conducted in two shelters, one hospitals and one rehabilitation centre in Kathmandu. The english data was transcribed in verbatim and analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Results: The discovered subcategories were daily life, organization, long term life changes and perceptions. Conclusions: Accessibility to education, rehabilitation, employment and public transport is needed. Increased access to assistive devices is also requested. A societal change with improved knowledge about disabilities, increased acceptance and structures to avoid a loss of income. Key terms: caregiver, Nepal, nursing needs, persons with disabilities

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