The perception of healthcare workers of People with Disabilities presenting for care at peri‐urban health facilities in Ghana

• DOI: 10.1111/hsc.13496
• Publication Date: 2021-07-16T05:20:19Z
• Authors: Enoch Acheampong; Alberta Nadutey; Reindolf Anokye; Peter Agyei‐Baffour; Anthony K. Edusei
• Keywords: Health Personnel; 4. Education; Ghana; Health Services Accessibility; 3. Good health; 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; 11. Sustainability; Humans; Disabled Persons; Perception; Health Facilities; 10. No inequality; Qualitative Research

Healthcare provider attitudes and perceptions of disability may influence the delivery of comprehensive quality care to patients with disabilities. The study was conducted to ascertain healthcare providers' perspectives on access to healthcare by disabled people in a peri-urban district of Ghana. We employed a qualitative approach and selected participants using the purposive sampling technique. Qualitative data were collected from 28 healthcare providers through face-to-face interviews using an interview guide. Data let thematic an alysis was employed to tease out the findings through categorisation and the main themes have been presented as findings with specific quotations to support them. We found that people with disabilities who visited healthcare facilities were perceived as individuals who are stressed up, selfish and inconsiderate, violent, having low self-esteem and also difficult to communicate with. This could affect the interactions between healthcare providers and people with disabilities who visit the facility and subsequently the quality of service provided. It is recommended that the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service work closely with the various educational institutions to train healthcare professionals to improve their knowledge on disability issues to improve service delivery.