Community participation and the right to health for people with disability: a qualitative study into Health Committees' understanding and practise of their governance role in relation to disability

Simple item page
dc.contributor.advisorHaricharan, Hanne Jensenen_ZA
dc.contributor.advisorLondon, Leslieen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorAbrahams, Theodore William Johnen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2016-01-19T12:16:06Z
dc.date.available2016-01-19T12:16:06Z
dc.date.issued2015en_ZA
dc.descriptionIncludes bibliographical referencesen_ZA
dc.description.abstractBACKGROUND: People with disabilities encounter major barriers that prevent them realising their right to health in South Africa. Health committees are legislated structures for community participation in health at a local level. This study investigated how health committee members understand and practise their role in community participation and how this advances the right to health for persons with disability. METHODS: A qualitative study was conducted with three health committees in the Cape Town Metropole in the Western Cape province of South Africa purposively selected for the study. Three facility managers and eight health committee members took part in focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews, supplemented by participant observations of committee meetings. Additionally, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 2 disability activists. These methods were used to gain a rich understanding of health committees’ roles and practises in relation to persons with disabilities. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. RESULTS: The main research findings were: (i) health committees did not prioritise disability on their respective agendas; (ii) persons with disabilities were not adequately represented on health committees; (iii) health committees exhibited poor understanding of disability barriers relating to health; (iv) lack of egalitarian values led to persons with disabilities not trusting the health committee, and distrust amongst health committee members; lastly (v) health committees augment health facility operations instead of fulfilling their governance and oversight function. These factors may have contributed to health committees not helping to advance the right to health for persons with disabilities. CONCLUSIONS: Health committees should include mandated representation of persons with disabilities, whilst addressing marginalisation directed toward persons with disabilities on committees. Training of health committees, as well as networking with disabled organisations, could help improve their limited understanding of disability. Health committees should consider addressing disability a human rights issue, which critically involves community mobilisation, raising awareness around issues of disability and promoting agency amongst persons with disabilities to claim their rights.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationAbrahams, T. W. J. (2015). <i>Community participation and the right to health for people with disability: a qualitative study into Health Committees' understanding and practise of their governance role in relation to disability</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Health Sciences ,Department of Public Health and Family Medicine. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/16435en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationAbrahams, Theodore William John. <i>"Community participation and the right to health for people with disability: a qualitative study into Health Committees' understanding and practise of their governance role in relation to disability."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Health Sciences ,Department of Public Health and Family Medicine, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/16435en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationAbrahams, T. 2015. Community participation and the right to health for people with disability: a qualitative study into Health Committees' understanding and practise of their governance role in relation to disability. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Abrahams, Theodore William John AB - BACKGROUND: People with disabilities encounter major barriers that prevent them realising their right to health in South Africa. Health committees are legislated structures for community participation in health at a local level. This study investigated how health committee members understand and practise their role in community participation and how this advances the right to health for persons with disability. METHODS: A qualitative study was conducted with three health committees in the Cape Town Metropole in the Western Cape province of South Africa purposively selected for the study. Three facility managers and eight health committee members took part in focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews, supplemented by participant observations of committee meetings. Additionally, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 2 disability activists. These methods were used to gain a rich understanding of health committees’ roles and practises in relation to persons with disabilities. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. RESULTS: The main research findings were: (i) health committees did not prioritise disability on their respective agendas; (ii) persons with disabilities were not adequately represented on health committees; (iii) health committees exhibited poor understanding of disability barriers relating to health; (iv) lack of egalitarian values led to persons with disabilities not trusting the health committee, and distrust amongst health committee members; lastly (v) health committees augment health facility operations instead of fulfilling their governance and oversight function. These factors may have contributed to health committees not helping to advance the right to health for persons with disabilities. CONCLUSIONS: Health committees should include mandated representation of persons with disabilities, whilst addressing marginalisation directed toward persons with disabilities on committees. Training of health committees, as well as networking with disabled organisations, could help improve their limited understanding of disability. Health committees should consider addressing disability a human rights issue, which critically involves community mobilisation, raising awareness around issues of disability and promoting agency amongst persons with disabilities to claim their rights. DA - 2015 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2015 T1 - Community participation and the right to health for people with disability: a qualitative study into Health Committees' understanding and practise of their governance role in relation to disability TI - Community participation and the right to health for people with disability: a qualitative study into Health Committees' understanding and practise of their governance role in relation to disability UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/16435 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/16435
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationAbrahams TWJ. Community participation and the right to health for people with disability: a qualitative study into Health Committees' understanding and practise of their governance role in relation to disability. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Health Sciences ,Department of Public Health and Family Medicine, 2015 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/16435en_ZA
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Public Health and Family Medicineen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Health Sciencesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherHealth Systemsen_ZA
dc.subject.otherDelivery of health careen_ZA
dc.subject.otherHealth Economicsen_ZA
dc.subject.otherCommunity participationen_ZA
dc.subject.otherHealth Committeesen_ZA
dc.subject.otherDisability Rightsen_ZA
dc.titleCommunity participation and the right to health for people with disability: a qualitative study into Health Committees' understanding and practise of their governance role in relation to disabilityen_ZA
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationnameMPHen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
thesis_hsf_2015_abrahams_theodore_william_john (1).pdf
Size:
1.71 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Download
Collections
Masters