Routledge International Handbook of Disability and Global Health

This handbook will raise awareness about the importance of health and well-being of people with disabilities in the context of the global development agenda: Leaving No-one Behind.

There has been a growing discussion on how people with disabilities should be included in the global health landscape. An estimated one billion people have some form of disability, 80% of whom live in low- and middle-income settings. People with disabilities are more likely to be poor, with restricted access to health and social services, education, rehabilitation and employment. Despite this, people with disabilities are often overlooked in global health and development efforts. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that unless systematically planned for and included in policies and programmes, people with disabilities remain at an increased risk of being adversely affected in times of humanitarian crisis and emergency disasters.

Divided into eight sections:

• Disability and Health Frameworks
• Health Justice, Rights and Bioethics
• Gendering Disability Health
• Disability and Global Mental Health
• Disability and Access to Healthcare, Including Workforce Development
• Crises and Health
• Technology and Digital Health
• Disability, Ageing and Dementia Care

This handbook covers the full range of topics pertaining to disability and global health including inclusive health; access to rehabilitation; global mental health and disability; medical training and disability; community based inclusive development for improving health and rehabilitation; maternal health and sexual reproduction; preventive care and health promotion for people with disabilities; health, disability and indigenous knowledges; bioethics and human rights; data protection; and health in the global south.

It will be of interest to all scholars, students and professionals working in the fields of disability studies, health studies, nursing, medicine, allied health, development studies and sociology.

Lieketseng Ned is an occupational therapist and an Associate Professor in the Division of Disability and Rehabilitation Studies in the Department of Global Health at Stellenbosch University. She is also an Editor-in-Chief of the African Journal of Disability.

Minerva Rivas Verlade is an Associate Professor in Disability Health at the Geneva School of Health Science.

Satendra Singh MD is a Professor of Physiology at the University College of Medical Sciences, University of Delhi, India.

Leslie Swartz is a clinical psychologist and Professor in Psychology at Stellenbosch University, South Africa.

Karen Soldatić is a Canadian Excellence Research Chair – Health Equity and Community Wellbeing, Toronto Metropolitan University and Institute Fellow, Whitlam Institute, Western Sydney University.