Promoting safe and inclusive water and sanitation services for students with physical disabilities in primary schools: a concept mapping study in Ghana

Abstract

Improving water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services in schools is crucial to providing inclusive environments for all children to thrive. Particularly for children with disabilities, the school environment can serve as a barrier to their access to and use of WASH facilities. This paper examines strategies and programs needed to promote safe and inclusive WASH services for students with physical disabilities in primary schools in Ghana. We recruited 22 stakeholders from the Upper West Region of Ghana to complete an online concept mapping exercise. Participants identified eight themes for promoting safe and inclusive access to WASH services for students with physical disabilities. These themes included ‘building special schools,’ ‘guidance services,’ ‘ensuring non-discrimination and fair treatment,’ ‘additional programs for PWDs,’ ‘local government interventions,’ ‘public sensitization,’ ‘teacher training,’ and ‘supervision.’ These findings can assist stakeholders in identifying strategies and prioritising programs in the short run to improve WASH among students with physical disabilities. HIGHLIGHTS This study aims to improve WASH services in primary schools in Ghana for students with disabilities.; Twenty-two stakeholders generated eight themes to promote inclusive access to WASH facilities.; The GO-zone tool was used to analyze the ease and importance of different strategies.; Results suggest prioritizing strategies that are both easy to implement and important.; These findings can help stakeholders improve WASH services for students with disabilities.;

Keywords

• concept mapping
• physical disability
• stakeholders
• wash