Cross-sectional Survey to Assess Prevalence of Disability and Access to Services in Albay Province, The Philippines

Marcus Hodge; Amable Bolinas; Erlynn Jaucian; Rebecca Boneo; Allan Schapira; Mary Mediatrix V. Villanueva

doi:10.5463/dcid.v28i3.650

Marcus Hodge ⁽¹⁾, Amable Bolinas ⁽²⁾, Erlynn Jaucian ⁽³⁾, Rebecca Boneo ⁽⁴⁾, Allan Schapira ⁽⁵⁾, Mary Mediatrix V. Villanueva ⁽⁶⁾

(1) Public Health, Philippines,

(2) Simon of Cyrene Community Rehabilitation and Development Foundation Inc., Daraga, Philippines,

(3) Simon of Cyrene Community Rehabilitation and Development Foundation Inc., Daraga, Philippines,

(4) Dios Mabalos Po Foundation Inc., Daraga, Philippines,

(5) Public Health, Philippines,

(6) Simon of Cyrene Community Rehabilitation and Development Foundation Inc., Daraga, Philippines

https://doi.org/10.5463/dcid.v28i3.650

Issue
Vol. 28 No. 3 (2017): Autumn 2017

Submitted
September 14, 2020

Published
November 27, 2017

Keywords:

Rights, rural, community-based rehabilitation (CBR), inclusion

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Abstract

Aim: A cluster randomized cross-sectional survey to assess the prevalence of disability and access to support services was conducted in Albay Province, the Philippines in April 2016.

Method: The population-based survey methodologies developed by the Washington Group of the United Nations Statistical Commission and UNICEF were utilized. A sample of 70 barangays (the 3^rd level administrative division in the Philippines) was selected as clusters, with probability proportional to size, and 30 households were selected randomly in each barangay to be surveyed.

Results: The estimated prevalence of disability using the standard criteria of the Washington Group and UNICEF among children (2-17 years old) was 2.0% and for adults (≥18 years old) it was 6.5%. The estimated prevalence of disability was higher in rural than in urban areas. Deficiencies in the performance of existing services were identified; access by children with disabilities to support services was lowest in rural highland and rural plain barangays.

Conclusions: There was a large unmet demand for support services addressing the needs of persons with disabilities in Albay Province, especially in rural highland areas. Persons with disabilities were disadvantaged in access to education and employment; many had not been educated in their basic rights.

Implications: To identify, educate and fully support persons with disabilities, community-based rehabilitation (CBR), health and other rehabilitation services must communicate effectively with each other, their current work should be mapped and analysed, their comparative strengths identified, and their future work coordinated. It is a priority to educate persons with disabilities and their families about their rights, and facilitate their access to support services; this requires increased investment in communication targeting persons with disabilities and the communities, especially rural. Providers caring for persons with disabilities need to work in partnership to identify unreached persons with disabilities. Prevalence surveys, with stronger focus on the profiles and performance of CBR and related services, would add to the evidence-base to improve the quality and coverage of services for persons with disabilities.

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Authors

Marcus Hodge

Public Health

mrcs@fastmail.com (Primary Contact)

Amable Bolinas

Simon of Cyrene Community Rehabilitation and Development Foundation Inc., Daraga

Erlynn Jaucian

Simon of Cyrene Community Rehabilitation and Development Foundation Inc., Daraga

Rebecca Boneo

Dios Mabalos Po Foundation Inc., Daraga

Allan Schapira

Public Health

Mary Mediatrix V. Villanueva

Simon of Cyrene Community Rehabilitation and Development Foundation Inc., Daraga

Author Biographies

Marcus Hodge, Public Health

Dr. Marcus Hodge is an Australian public health physician. After completing a medical degree at the University of Sydney, a Masters Degree in Clinical Tropical Medicine and a D.T.M.&H. at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and a Master of Public Health at Harvard University, he worked for the Australian Government in communicable disease surveillance and control. He has also worked for WHO on immunization and polio eradication, tuberculosis control, and programme management at Regional Office and country levels. His current interests include programme development and research in disabilities and public health.

Amable Bolinas, Simon of Cyrene Community Rehabilitation and Development Foundation Inc., Daraga

Ms. Amable Bolinas is President of the Simon of Cyrene Community Rehabilitation and Development Foundation, Inc., Daraga, Philippines. She pioneered the implementation of the Community-Based Rehabilitation (CBR) in cooperation with local government units and persons with disabilities in the Bicol Region, Philippines as its Executive Director from 1985-2009. She served on the Executive Committee of the CBR Asia - Pacific Network. She has worked as an independent consultant and promoted CBR in the Philippines, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Kiribati, and the Pacific Islands. Her areas of interest include planning and organizational development of rehabilitation programmes for persons with disability, and research.

Erlynn Jaucian, Simon of Cyrene Community Rehabilitation and Development Foundation Inc., Daraga

Ms. Erlynn Jaucian is the Executive Director of the Simon of Cyrene Community Rehabilitation and Development Foundation, Inc., Daraga, Philippines. She is responsible for day to day operations and ensures the implementation of Community-Based Rehabilitation Progam (CBR) and programmes and services of the Foundation. She served as adviser of the Bicol CBR Network and advocate in promoting the rights and inclusion of persons with disabilities. She developed modules for capacity building of stakeholders, concept papers for CBR components and project proposals for funding.

Rebecca Boneo, Dios Mabalos Po Foundation Inc., Daraga

Ms. Rebecca Boneo manages program implementation of Dios Mabalos Po Foundation, Daraga, Philippines. Through the Foundation’s programs on nutrition and health, she pursues her interests in philanthropic, humanitarian and charitable purposes. Her work focuses on impoverished communities of the Bicol Region as coordinator for the prevention of disabilities. She coordinates prevention of blindness activities from advocacy to surgical intervention on persons with squints, persons with cataract and persons with pterygium. She also manages cleft lips and palates surgical interventions when the Foundation is not in a disaster response mode.

Allan Schapira, Public Health

Dr Allan Schapira is a Danish physician living in the Philippines, who has devoted his professional life over the last 30 years to control of vector-borne diseases. He holds a D.T.M.&H. from Liverpool, UK, and a medical degree and doctorate in medical science from the University of Copenhagen. From 1990 to 2007, he worked for the World Health Organization and from 2007 to 2009, for the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Malaria Consortium. In the Philippines, he provides technical support for some public health programmes, including for persons with disabilities.

Mary Mediatrix V. Villanueva, Simon of Cyrene Community Rehabilitation and Development Foundation Inc., Daraga

Ms Mary Mediatrix Villanueva started her social development projects as National President of The Rural Service Volunteer Program in 1969. In 1982 she was one of the founders of the predecessor of the Simon of Cyrene Community Rehabilitation and Development Foundation, Inc, Philippines. She has served on the Board of Trustees since 1982 and was President in 2016, the year of the survey. She led the Foundation in exploring and expanding service response to all disabilities. In 2006 she managed the Ayuda Albay, a secretariat that ensured integrity in the delivery of disaster relief after Typhoon Reming, In 2007, the Dios Mabalos Po Foundaton was established. As Chairperson, her long standing commitment to underserved disaster victims has enabled indigenous people and persons with disability to access the Foundation’s nutrition and food security programme.

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Hodge M, Bolinas A, Jaucian E, Boneo R, Schapira A, Villanueva MMV. Cross-sectional Survey to Assess Prevalence of Disability and Access to Services in Albay Province, The Philippines. DCIDJ [Internet]. 2017 Nov. 27 [cited 2025 Jun. 23];28(3):5-31. Available from: https://dcidj.uog.edu.et/index.php/up-j-dcbrid/article/view/266

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