Community living and participation of people with disabilities: A Case Study of the Cape Coast Metropolis

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to examine the community livving and participation of people with disabilities with their sighted counterparts. The case study design was used for the study. The sample size was 16. These comprised 12 people with disabilities and 4 non-disabled peers. The method for data collection was interviews. The purposive sampling technique was used to select the sample size. Data was analysed thematically. Results from the study showed that most people with disabilities do not participate fully in the community. The study concluded that community living and participation of people with disabilities was partial due to some environmental, policies and self-perceptions of people with disabilities and the non-disabled in the community. It was recommended that the self-perceptions of people with disabilities need to be improved upon through counselling during their associations meeting and also through active participation in community activities whenever possible. Also playing and working together on activities in the community should be adopted by the non-disabled to boost the nature of friendships in the community, since such activities proved to be effective in predicting friendships in the community. It was also recommended that regular advocacy be done to educated community members on disability issues to minimize prejudice and misconceptions.