Meta-analysis of studies on the impact of mobility disability simulation programs on attitudes toward people with disabilities and environmental in/accessibility

Abstract

The reported equivocal evidence of the effectiveness of disability simulation programs in reducing ableist attitudes toward people with disabilities has led to a persistent debate about the suggested discontinuation of such simulation programs to avoid further reinforcement of ableism. The present research conducted a meta-analysis on 12 empirical studies evaluating the impact of mobility disability simulation programs on attitudes toward people with disabilities and environmental accessibility to better inform future research and practice. A citation search using keywords related to “disability” and “simulation” in the title and/or abstract in 11 major online databases (i.e., Cochrane, EBSCOhost, EMBASE, Google Scholar, IEEE Xplore, JSTOR, LearnTechLib, ProQuest, PsycINFO, Scopus, and Web of Science) was conducted to retrieve relevant empirical articles that are published within the earliest dates of each database and June 2021 for the meta-analysis. Meta-analysis using a random effects model revealed that participation in the simulation programs resulted in large effect sizes in increasing fear and anxiety [Cohen’s d = -1.51, 95% CI (-2.98, -.05), n = 2] but small effect sizes in improving conceptions of social inclusion at postsimulation [Cohen’s d = .24, 95% CI (.01, .47), n = 5] while reducing stereotypes toward people with disabilities at follow-up [Cohen’s d = .57, 95% CI (.10, 1.03), n = 3]. Inconclusive changes in the behavioral tendency of inclusion-promoting actions and stereotypes at postsimulation were found. The three exploratory moderators (i.e., the program duration, the presence of facilitators with disabilities, and the debriefing arrangement) were not statistically significantly associated with between-subgroup differences in the program’s effectiveness in reducing stereotypes toward people with disabilities. The findings informed a series of recommended reforms in the program message framing, formats of the simulation, scope and referents of outcome measures, incorporation of environmental perspectives and behavioral measures, and methodological quality of the program evaluation study.