Author: Mary Awata
Awata, Mary, 2019 Facilitators to Successful Service Engagement of people with Disabilities from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Background;, Flinders University, College of Education, Psychology and Social Work
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Australia is one of the most multicultural countries in the world with approximately 28 percent of the population constituting people from culturally and linguistically diverse background (CALD) (Henderson & Kendall, 2011). Yet, studies report that access rate of disability services by people from CALD background with disability is exceedingly disproportionate to their presence in the community (Zhou, 2016). The aim of this study is to establish what the academic literature informs about the facilitating factors that promote successful service engagement of CALD people with disability. To inform policy and service delivery in the disability sector, facilitators to service engagement by CALD populations must be understood.
A systematic review was conducted to capture themes emerging on evidence regarding facilitators to successful engagement of CALD people in disability services. Five academic literature databases were searched, revealing 6549 studies of which 10 articles met the criteria for inclusion. Eligible studies included studies published in English between January 2008 to September 2018.
Two major themes emerged from the literature including facilitators and barriers to service engagement of CALD populations with disability, with little literature focusing discretely on facilitators. The Intersectionality framework was used to discuss the review findings, this framework takes into consideration broader structural inequities and power imbalances including social class, gender, collective impact on help seeking and disability outcomes.
This review highlights the critical need to undertake further enquiry into broader societal issues that influence engagement and disengagement in disability services in CALD populations.
Keywords: Disability, Culturally and linguistically diverse,service engagement
Subject: Social Work thesis
Thesis type: Graduate Diploma
Completed: 2019
School: College of Education, Psychology and Social Work
Supervisor: Dr Helen McLaren