Attitudes of the public, workers towards persons with disabilities in the service sector in the Tema/Accra metropolis

Abstract

The study investigates the attitudes of the public, workers towards persons with disability in the Tema and Accra municipality and metropolis respectively. The study employed a cross-sectional study design to interview one hundred and fifty three respondents made of fifty three Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) and one hundred able workers or Non Persons with Disabilities (NPWDs). The one hundred NPWDs were interviewed to collect views on their attitude towards fellow workers who are PWDs while the fifty three PWDs were interviewed to collect their views on attitudes of their fellow able workers towards them as well as to confirm or disconfirm the information gathered from the NPWDs. The PWDs included in the sample for the study were selected by means of referral (snowball sampling) while the NPWDs were selected by simple random sampling technique. Most of the respondents interviewed have worked at least within one year to fifteen years and as result have adequate information about PWDs they work with. The study revealed that most PWDs do not work in the service sector as compared to their counter parts the NPWDs even though the respondents indicated that it’s their right to get jobs in the industry. The major recommendation of the study is that an intensive education should be given to the few NON-PWDS and PWDs who still hold on to old traditional beliefs and conceptions about disability which has perpetuated the negative attitudes recorded about PWDs despite the modern understanding of the disability concept.