Submission ID 131965
| Issue/Objective | People with disabilities and their families sometimes require supports to navigate life and fully participate in the community. Formal supports comprise supports delivered by systems, structures, or paid professionals. Formal support providers play a significant role in providing expert level aid to disability-related issues and enhancing the quality of life of people with disabilities in Guatemala. However, little is known about how formal disability service providers operate within this context, specifically, how system-level factors like policy frameworks, funding mechanisms, and service coverage gaps interact with the service provision that formal support providers deliver. The objective of this study was to understand how formal disability support providers in Guatemala navigate (a) policy frameworks, (b) funding mechanisms, and (c) service coverage gaps, while delivering supports to persons with disabilities and their families. |
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| Methodology/Approach | We conducted 18 qualitative semi-structured interviews with a range of formal support providers in Cubulco, Salamá, Rabinal, and Guatemala City and analyzed the data using thematic template analysis. |
| Results | We organized the results into three key findings: (1) Lack of supportive policies and poor implementation of existing policies affecting formal support providers, (2) Varied and precarious funding mechanisms from both international and government sources, (3) Significant service coverage gaps, including limited availability and poor geographic accessibility, which restrict formal support access for people with disabilities and their families. |
| Discussion/Conclusion | These results convey the importance of formal support providers in ensuring health equity for persons with disabilities and their families. These findings also show a need for policymakers' commitment to the creation and implementation of policy to support the critical work being done by the formal support providers. Future studies should explore how such systematic barriers are experienced by persons with disabilities and their families and create strategies to strengthen formal support policy development and implementation in Guatemala. |
| Presenters and Affiliations | Valeria Acosta Queen's University Caitlin Piccone Queen's University Tesfaye Tebekie Queen's University Heather Aldersey Queen's University |
