The Attitude of Healthcare Professionals Towards Disabled Individuals

Abstract

Objective: The aim is to investigate the attitudes of healthcare professionals in Istanbul towards people with disabilities within the scope of the "Be Happy in Life" project, which is conducted under the coordination of Istanbul Provincial Health Directorate with the aim of increasing the well-being of the disabled and their families and professionals. Method: This study is a descriptive study on healthcare professionals working in health institutions in Istanbul affiliated with the Ministry of Health. The questionnaire developed according to the literature, included questions to determine socio-demographic variables and the "Attitude Toward Disabled Persons" (ATDP) scale. This online survey was conducted with 704 healthcare professionals working in health institutions in Istanbul, participating voluntarily. Results: Healthcare professionals participating in the study are 77.1% women; 61.8% married; the average age is 35.97 ± 8.76 (median 35) years; 77.6% of them have an education level of undergraduate and above; 48.6% are nurses / midwives / health officers; average working time in the profession is 12.93 ± 9.19 (median 11) years. ATDP scale scores are higher in females than males (p = 0.036); higher in singles than in married (p = 0.033). ATDP scale scores were significantly different according to the income level of the participants (p = 0.003); and according to professional groups (p <0.001). The highest average score was for the "social worker / psychologist / physiotherapist" group, while the lowest scale score was for the “Data Entry Operator / Data Preparation and Control Operator” group. In correlation analysis, no significant relationship was found between the age of healthcare workers or the duration of their employment in the profession and ATDP scale scores (r = -0.014; p = 0.703 and r = -0.038; p = 0.319). Conclusion: In the education curriculum of health professionals at all levels, courses that increase attitudes and awareness towards disabled people should be included. The perception of disability as "disorder" or "abnormality" as "impaired" should be supported by organizing in-service training programs for the disabled at regular intervals in health institutions.

Knowledge, Attitude and Perception of Disability among Healthcare Workers in a Nigerian Tertiary Health Institution

“…The findings of this study revealed that the participants had a fair level of knowledge, attitude, and perception of disability. This is contrary to some previous studies that found that medical students and health professionals have low levels of knowledge and attitude [20][21][22][23]. Differences in the study populations and the types of instruments utilized could explain the contradictory results found in this study and the results from previous researchers.…”

“…Having more years of experience also had no significant association with having greater knowledge, a good attitude, or a positive perception of physical disabilities. This is in line with previous studies, which found no correlation between knowledge, attitude, and years of work experience [21,23,26]. Some previous studies had reported a negative correlation between health workers attitude, years of experience and physical disabilities [22,28].…”

“…Furthermore, there were no significant associations among knowledge, attitude, and perception of disability among the healthcare workers. Similar studies [23,27], found no significant association between attitudes towards people with disabilities and the presence of relatives with disabilities. However, it has been established that the frequency and quality of contact with persons with disabilities can influence attitudes, resulting in a more balanced and realistic view of individuals with a disability [24].…”

“…Had reported similar findings, however, females scored higher on attitude than their male counterparts. This may be due to gender differences and traits, such as females having more empathy and compassion, being more caring, affectionate, emotional, and sensitive to other people's feelings and thoughts than the males [23]. Furthermore, there were no significant associations among knowledge, attitude, and perception of disability among the healthcare workers.…”