Employer attitudes toward hiring persons with disabilities in Armenia

Purpose: The purpose of this two-part study was to provide input into a strategy to improve employment opportunities for persons with disabilities in Armenia.

Background: Employment rates for persons with disabilities in Armenia have been variously reported between eight and 21%, much below the general employment rate of 82%.

Method: First, a Participatory Action Research process led to the development of a 15 item self-report measure - the Perceived Barriers to Employing Persons with Disabilities Scale – which was administered to 158 employers. Second, respondent data were examined to determine psychometric properties of the scale and to inform strategic recommendations for policy development.

Findings: Exploratory factor analysis resulted in the removal of 6 items, leaving a 9 item scale. Responses produced a multidimensional scale clustering around 2 factors. The first of these, structural issues, was principally informed by employer perceptions of limited skill levels of persons with disabilities, high costs associated with employing persons with disabilities, and the lack of accessibility within facilities. The second factor, social issues, was informed by employers’ anticipation of negative reactions of coworkers, customers and supervisors toward persons with disabilities entering the workforce. Employers also indicated a belief that persons with disabilities with skills should be entitled to work.

Discussion and Conclusion: Results of this study suggest that attitudes of Armenian employers toward people with disabilities, and subsequent hiring decisions, are partly informed by perceptions of the negative reactions of others within the workplace. This finding disagrees with studies from other jurisdictions, which generally consider that these attitudes are principally informed by perceived skills deficits on the part of people with disabilities. These results would support the development of employer-focused information and awareness campaigns designed to address both of these factors.

• Implications for Rehabilitation

• Employment rates for people with disabilities are much below those of the general population.

• Research indicates that employer attitudes contribute significantly to the employment success of people with disabilities.

• A recent employer survey in Armenia indicates that these attitudes are influenced by a perception that others within the workplace do not accept people with disabilities.

• Vocational counseling and training programs, and employer awareness interventions, may be more effective if this influence on employer attitudes is addressed.

     

Enabling or disabling? Students' attitudes toward persons with disabilities.

Persons with disabilities are devalued by society. Occupational therapists may be contributing to this devaluation through their attitudes. This study focused on the attitudes of undergraduate students. From a sample of 223 occupational therapy students and 326 business students at an Australian university, it was found, with the use of the Attitudes Toward Disabled Persons Scale-Form A (Yuker, Block, & Young, 1966), that the attitudes of freshman occupational therapy students did not differ significantly from those of their business-major peers. Furthermore, the occupational therapy students' attitudes did not vary with the years of undergraduate education completed. However, those students who had had contact with persons with disabilities beyond the context of a caregiver-care receiver relationship (i.e., those students who had assumed roles that emphasized valued attributes of the person with a disability) had significantly more positive attitudes than did those students without such contact. Educational curricula must address the issue of students' attitudes and, in particular, the facilitation of valued social role contact with persons with disabilities.     

Influence of occupational therapy curricula on students' attitudes toward persons with disabilities.

The influence of occupational therapy curricula on students' attitudes toward persons with disabilities was studied. Twenty-six female students in either their first or fourth (i.e, final) semester of the occupational therapy curriculum were assessed with the Attitudes Toward Disabled Persons Scale (ATDP) (Yukor, Block, & Younng, 1966). A comparison group, 26 female students in either their first or fourth semester of the medical technology program, was also assessed with this scale. As hypothesized, the fourth-semester occupational therapy students showed significantly higher scores than did the other three groups of subjects. Also as predicted, this same group showed significantly higher scores than their first-semester counterparts and the fourth-semester medical technology students. No significant difference was found between first-semester and fourth-semester medical technology students. The occupational therapy curriculum appears to positively influence students' attitudes toward persons with disabilities.     

Measurement of attitudes towards persons with disabilities

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to assist those engaged in research dealing with attitudes towards persons with disabilities by presenting a catalogue of various attitude measurement methods. Method: A review of the methodological and psychological literatures on the measurement of attitudes towards persons with disabilities. Results: The review uncovered 10 direct methods to measure attitudes, in which the respondents are aware that they are participating in an experiment and 14 indirect methods in four categories that are not plagued by attitude-distorting influences because the respondents are not aware that their attitudes are being measured. A discussion of each method with examples is provided, followed by implications for rehabilitation practitioners, rehabilitation education and training, and rehabilitation researchers. Conclusions: The investigation of attitudes towards persons with disabilities requires innovative experimental methods and psychometrically sound instruments that are reliable, valid, and multidimensional. Without such instruments, it will not be possible to obtain conclusive answers to important research questions concerning the relationship between these attitudes and the acceptance and integration of persons with disabilities into society.     

Measurement of attitudes towards persons with disabilities

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to assist those engaged in research dealing with attitudes towards persons with disabilities by presenting a catalogue of various attitude measurement methods. Method: A review of the methodological and psychological literatures on the measurement of attitudes towards persons with disabilities. Results: The review uncovered 10 direct methods to measure attitudes, in which the respondents are aware that they are participating in an experiment and 14 indirect methods in four categories that are not plagued by attitude-distorting influences because the respondents are not aware that their attitudes are being measured. A discussion of each method with examples is provided, followed by implications for rehabilitation practitioners, rehabilitation education and training, and rehabilitation researchers. Conclusions: The investigation of attitudes towards persons with disabilities requires innovative experimental methods and psychometrically sound instruments that are reliable, valid, and multidimensional. Without such instruments, it will not be possible to obtain conclusive answers to important research questions concerning the relationship between these attitudes and the acceptance and integration of persons with disabilities into society.     

Health professionals as contributors to attitudes toward persons with disabilities. A special communication

Negative attitudes towards persons with disabilities are common in our society. Although these attitudes are not voiced readily, they are expressed in a variety of ways and serve as barriers to the full realization of human potential. Health care professionals hold attitudes toward persons with disabilities that are similar to those of society as a whole, and they may be actual perpetuators of this limiting practice. This article explores possible origins of negative stereotypes of persons with disabilities and how these stereotypes are reinforced through the media. Health care professionals play a special role in continuing them. Change can occur through increased awareness and a humanitarian desire to reach beyond labels.     

Factors influencing occupational therapy students' attitudes toward persons with disabilities: a conjoint analysis.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to examine factors influencing occupational therapy students' context-specific attitudes toward persons with disabilities. METHOD: Attitudes of 128 occupational therapy students toward placement of a residential treatment facility in their community were measured by a conjoint measurement of 16 stimulus cards (representing persons with varying disability types, gender, age, employment history, and history of aggression) and their responses were analyzed using conjoint analysis. FINDINGS: Disability type and threat of violence were significantly higher on important scores compared with the other attributes across all students. Additionally, Year-Three students had significantly higher importance scores for the employment attribute than Year-One students. CONCLUSION: Conjoint analysis can be used effectively, as an indirect measure, to study factors contributing to the formation of attitudes-preferences for persons with disabilities in specific social contexts.     

Undergraduate nursing students' attitudes and preparedness toward caring for dying persons – A longitudinal study

Nursing education needs to prepare students for care of dying patients. The aim of this study was to describe the development of nursing students' attitudes toward caring for dying patients and their perceived preparedness to perform end-of-life care. A longitudinal study was performed with 117 nursing students at six universities in Sweden. The students completed the Frommelt Attitude Toward Care of the Dying Scale (FATCOD) questionnaire at the beginning of first and second year, and at the end of third year of education. After education, the students completed questions about how prepared they felt by to perform end-of-life care. The total FATCOD increased from 126 to 132 during education. Five weeks' theoretical palliative care education significantly predicted positive changes in attitudes toward caring for dying patients. Students with five weeks' theoretical palliative care training felt more prepared and supported by the education to care for a dying patient than students with shorter education. A minority felt prepared to take care of a dead body or meet relatives.     

灵性教育与死亡态度——从三级医院护士死亡态度现状引发的思考

【目的】了解三级医院临床护士死亡态度现状并分析其影响因素,探讨改善临床护士死亡心态的有效措施。【方法】采用方便抽样法,于2019年3-5月选择江苏省无锡市人民医院的803名护士作为研究对象,采用一般资料调查问卷和死亡态度描绘量表进行调查。【结果】 803名临床护士死亡态度各个维度的得分均接近中等水平,其中“逃离接受”维度得分最低（3.00±0.81）,“中性接受”维度得分最高（3.92±0.52）;多元线性回归分析显示,婚姻状况、关于死亡的过往教育情况、工作科室是护士“死亡恐惧”的影响因素,宗教信仰、工作科室是“趋近接受”的影响因素,婚姻状况是“死亡逃避”的影响因素、工作年限是“逃离接受”的影响因素。【结论】三级医院临床护士死亡态度现状不容乐观,合理的教育内容和手段（如灵性教育）将有望促进临床护士死亡态度的正向发展。     

Attitudes of occupational therapy personnel toward persons with disabilities

The study described in the following article investigated the attitudes of occupational therapy personnel toward persons with disabilities. The examination involved attitudes in general as measured by the Scale of Attitudes Toward Disabled Persons (SADP) (Antonak, 1981), specific attitudes toward infants with Down's syndrome, beliefs concerning the importance of favorable attitudes toward patients, and beliefs concerning the role of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) in the development of ethical guidelines for the delivery of health care services. The results of a survey of 619 occupational therapy personnel indicate that they hold a very favorable attitude toward persons with disabilities, and that they believe that a negative attitude would adversely affect the therapeutic relationship. The majority agree that the expression of a favorable attitude should be a criterion in student selection. The majority also agree that AOTA should develop position papers on ethical issues and take a public position on issues pertinent to the rights of the disabled person. Occupational therapy personnel proved to be very homogeneous on the general attitudinal scale. However, the Down's syndrome scenario uncovered significant differences among the different categories of respondents in the variables for professional level, area of practice, years of practice, and geographic location. A majority of respondents agreed that is is unethical to withhold needed surgery from a child because of disability. However, they differed on the ethics of aborting a fetus with Down's syndrome (most thought it was unethical).     

Attitudes of medical clerks toward persons with intellectual disabilities

Objective

To assess the attitudes of upper-year undergraduate medical students (ie, clerks) toward the philosophy of community inclusion of persons with intellectual disabilities (ID) according to demographic, personal contact, and training variables.

Design

Cross-sectional self-administered survey.

Setting

Clerkship rotations at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont, and the University of Toronto in Ontario in 2006.

Participants

A total of 258 clerks.

Main outcome measures

Scores on the Community Living Attitudes Scale—Short Form.

Results

There were no differences in the Community Living Attitudes Scale—Short Form subscale scores across categories of demographic characteristics, personal contact, or having received didactic training about ID. Clerks who had seen patients with ID during their medical school training had higher mean sheltering subscale scores than those who had not (3.27 vs 3.07, P = .02). Additional analysis revealed that 88.5% of clerks who had seen patients with ID reported seeing 5 or fewer such patients, and that those who rated the quality of their supervision more positively had higher mean scores on the empowerment subscale and lower mean scores on the sheltering subscale.

Conclusion

Although specific training has the potential to promote more socially progressive attitudes regarding persons with ID, lower-quality supervision is associated with higher endorsement of items expressing the need to shelter individuals with ID from harm and lower endorsement of items promoting empowerment.     

Health promoting attitudes and behaviors among persons with disabilities

Despite the recognized importance of maintaining and improving the health status of persons with disabilities, there has been little research conducted to determine their health care attitudes and behaviors and what interventions might serve to enhance their health. Using Pender's Model of Health Promotion (1987), this study investigated the factors associated with the occurrence of health promoting behaviors among 135 adults with disabilities. Staff and peer counsellors from two Independent Living Centres in Texas administered the questionnaires and conducted brief semi-structured interviews with participants. Seventy-three percent of the sample rated their current health as good or excellent. Findings from both interviews and questionnaires suggest that participants are more likely to define health as being able to function well than as simply the absence of illness. High scores on Adaptive definition of health, the Self-Efficacy-Scale, age, and low scores on the Barriers to Health Promotion Activity for Disabled Persons scale accounted for 31% of the variance in scores on a self-report measure of health promoting behaviors. These findings suggest that interventions which address self-perceived barriers to health promotion, work to build participants' sense of mastery of their health behaviors, and encourage a definition of health that is broader than simply absence of illness may be more effective than those that focus only on information about good health practices.     

Rehabilitation students' attitudes toward persons with disabilities in high- and low-stakes social contexts: A conjoint analysis

Purpose. The primary objective of this research is to examine factors influencing rehabilitation services students' attitudes toward people with disabilities in two social contexts using a conjoint analysis design.

Method. Ninety-nine students in rehabilitation counselling participated in a conjoint measurement study featuring 55 stimulus cards representing varying disability types, genders, races or ethnicities, grade point averages, internship evaluations, and employment statuses for both high-stakes scenarios and low-stakes scenarios. The participants were instructed to order the stimulus cards to indicate their preferences for associating with different people with disabilities in two social contexts: A high-stakes context as a rehabilitation administrator hiring a counsellor and a low-stakes context as a mentor/companion.

Results. The results showed that age and disability type were most involved in the decision-making process in the low-stakes group, and performance-related variables were most important in the high-stakes context. Attitude was significantly affected by client characteristics unrelated to disability including age and race or ethnicity, and factors influencing attitude formation differed across the two social contexts.

Conclusion. Conjoint analysis can contribute to our understanding of the formation of attitudes or preferences in multiple social contexts. Using these results, it may be possible to develop effective attitude change strategies.     

Physician-nurse attitudes toward collaboration in Istanbul's public hospitals

The need for greater collaboration between nurses and physicians in clinical practice is essential to improve patient care and worker satisfaction. This study used t-tests and logistic regression to test four research hypotheses concerning attitudes toward physician-nurse collaboration in Istanbul, Turkey. The study found that nurses express more positive attitudes toward collaboration than physicians. Noteworthy was the finding that male physicians expressed more positive attitudes toward collaboration than female physicians. Residents and those employed in secondary institutions were also more likely to express more positive attitudes toward collaboration than permanent physicians and those employed in tertiary hospitals.     

Influencing physiotherapy student attitudes toward exercise for adolescents with Down syndrome

Background.?Negative attitudes of physiotherapists may prevent them from implementing exercise as an intervention among people with disabilities. The aim of this study was to examine whether physiotherapy student attitudes towards the barriers to exercise for adolescents with Down syndrome changed as a result of participating in a 10-week exercise programme.

Method.?Data were collected as part of a randomised controlled trial. Twenty physiotherapy students (2 men, 18 women; mean age 19.5±1.3 years) volunteered to act as mentors. Each mentor was matched with an adolescent with Down syndrome from the same metropolitan suburb, who had been randomly allocated to either the intervention or the control group. The 10 adolescents and students in the intervention group all completed a 10-week, twice a week progressive resistance exercise training programme. The 10 adolescents and students in the control group continued with their usual activities. The students completed the 18-item Exercise Barriers Scale at baseline and after 10 weeks.

Results.?There was a positive change in attitudes, significant at the p <0.05 level, favouring the intervention group on 9 of the 18 items on the Exercise Barriers Scale.

Conclusions.?After engagement in a 10-week exercise programme with an adolescent with Down syndrome, physiotherapy students identified fewer barriers that would prevent adolescents with Down syndrome from exercising. Results indicate that contact with adolescents with Down syndrome during clinical placement can positively influence attitudes towards exercise for people with Down syndrome among physiotherapy students.     

康复科护理人员对残疾人态度、工作成就感与人性化护理能力的关系

目的 了解康复科护理人员人性化护理能力的现状,并探讨其与对残疾人的态度和工作成就感间的关系。方法 2020年12月至2021年3月,便利抽取锦州市、盘锦市、营口市和抚顺市8所综合性三甲医院的196例康复科护理人员,采用医护人员对残疾人态度量表、工作成就感量表、护士人性化护理能力量表进行调查。结果 康复科护理人员人性化护理能力总分为(73.39±10.75),总条目均分(3.86±0.57);康复科护理人员人性化护理能力与对残疾人态度和工作成就感均呈正相关(r=0.208～0.774, P <0.01);工作成就感在康复科护理人员对残疾人态度和人性化护理能力间起部分中介作用,中介效应为0.420,占总效应的52.83%。结论 康复科护理人员人性化护理能力较差。对残疾人态度越好,工作成就感越高,人性化护理能力会越强。康复科护理人员对残疾人态度不仅可以直接作用于人性化护理能力,也可以通过工作成就感间接影响人性化护理能力。