The Silent Majority: Understanding and Supporting Access and Inclusion for People with Disabilities Living in Predominantly Low-Resource Communities
James H. Rimmer,
Phuong T. M. Quach,
Stephanie Ward,
Hui-Ju Young,
Harshvardhan Singh,
Byron Lai
Affiliations
James H. Rimmer
School of Health Professions Research Collaborative and National Center on Health, Physical Activity and Disability (NCHPAD), University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35233, USA
Phuong T. M. Quach
Department of Physical Therapy, School of Health Professions, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35233, USA
Stephanie Ward
School of Health Professions Research Collaborative and National Center on Health, Physical Activity and Disability (NCHPAD), University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35233, USA
Hui-Ju Young
School of Health Professions Research Collaborative and National Center on Health, Physical Activity and Disability (NCHPAD), University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35233, USA
Harshvardhan Singh
Department of Physical Therapy, School of Health Professions, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35233, USA
Byron Lai
Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35233, USA
People with disabilities are often isolated from their community due to issues with accessibility and inclusion, which are worse in low-resource communities. Creating meaningful change will require an understanding of strategies that work at a community-wide level to foster community engagement among people with disabilities. This study utilized a qualitative grounded theory approach to identify barriers and facilitators of community access and inclusion of people with disabilities from the perspectives of 12 neighborhood presidents of low-resource areas within the state of Alabama in the United States. Four themes were identified: (1) community engagement is a process from accessibility to inclusion; (2) knowledge supports people’s needs and empowers systemic changes to policies and laws; (3) neighborhood resources beget further resources; and (4) change necessitates benevolent leadership. Based on these themes, we generated a substantive theory called the Neighborhood Engagement Theory, which health professionals can utilize to support neighborhood presidents in creating systemic change for people with disabilities.
