Acquired physical disability: Personal meanings in a rural South African setting

Sadiki, Marubini Christinah; Radzilani-Makatu, Makondelele; Zikhali, Marty Prudence

doi:10.1080/14330237.2018.1547865

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 11 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This article builds on PhD research previously conducted on the experiences of newly acquired disability in a South African Limpopo community. This prior study introduced, but did not explore, themes around the role of witchcraft, functional limitation and social exclusion in disability experiences of the study population (Sadiki, Radzilani-Makatu & Zikhali 2018 ). The present study further develops the theme of the relationship between bodily ‘limitations’ and exclusion in this same study sample.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transitioning to a life with disability in rural South Africa: A qualitative study

Sadiki

Watermeyer

Abrahams

2021

African Journal of Disability

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Adjustment to the onset of disability has complex reverberations relating to both socially engendered disadvantage and the realities of functional limitation. Pre-existing ways of understanding disability can meaningfully shape this experience.Objective: This study aimed to provide an exploratory understanding of the experience of becoming disabled in a low-income, under-served, rural South African community. In particular, it was interested in how people with disabilities constructed their struggle within the conceptual split between disadvantage caused by ‘malfunctioning’ bodies (a ‘medical model’ view) and that caused by social organisation (a ‘social model’ view).Methods: Seven people between the ages of 39 and 47 who had acquired a physical disability within the last 4 years were recruited in a rural area of Limpopo province, South Africa. Semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted, and the resulting data were thematically analysed. The authors were positioned as both ‘insiders’ and ‘outsiders’ to the participants and sought to use this orientation to best understand and stay faithful to participants’ views while simultaneously applying participant’s experiences to conceptual knowledge in disability studies.Results: Four themes emerged: (1) emotional impact of onset of disability, (2) being introduced to disablist prejudice, (3) being required to take on a ‘disabled’ identity and (4) socio-economic implications of becoming disabled. The findings reflected a complex set of adverse experiences in the lives of the participants, spanning disadvantages based on embodied, cultural, relational and environmental factors, which were superimposed on existing, generalised poverty in their local communities. Participants made sense of their predicament in multiple, evolving ways.Conclusion: This study contributes to the understanding of the complex predicaments, and sense-making, of persons who have acquired a disability in a rural, impoverished Global South environment.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transitioning to a life with disability in rural South Africa: A qualitative study

Sadiki

Watermeyer

Abrahams

2021

African Journal of Disability

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Strategies employed in coping with physical disabilities acquired during adulthood in rural South Africa

Sadiki

Kibirige

2022

Afr. j. disabil.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Society places people with physical disabilities acquired during adulthood in disadvantaged positions, especially when they cannot participate in activities like their non-disabled counterparts. The situation can be worse for individuals who acquire disabilities during adulthood, where they have to learn to cope with the adulthood-acquired physical disabilities.Objectives: This study aimed to identify the types of physical disabilities acquired during adulthood and their causes and explore how participants defined their disabilities and the coping strategies they used.Methods: The study used a phenomenological research design. Five adults (three women, two men) with adulthood-acquired disabilities were purposefully selected from a rural area in Limpopo, South Africa. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis was used to generate themes about coping strategies study participants used.Results: The results show four types of adulthood-acquired disabilities amongst the participants: visual impairment, paraplegia, weakened muscles which led to bilateral amputation, loss of function on both hands and legs. Participants’ meanings of their physical adulthood-acquired disabilities ranged from a punishment, pain, not a bother, black magic, to results of doing wrong things to someone. In coming to terms with their adulthood-acquired disabilities, participants used problem- and emotion-focused strategies. Four themes from the participants’ responses were spiritual support, social support, substance dependency, access to health and rehabilitation services.Conclusion: The study contributes to understanding the experiences of individuals who acquired disabilities in adulthood, how they define their disabilities and the divergent coping strategies they use. This study established that participants used problem-focused, positive emotion-focused and negative emotion-focused coping strategies.

show abstract

Acquired physical disability: Personal meanings in a rural South African setting

Cited by 2 publications

References 11 publications

Transitioning to a life with disability in rural South Africa: A qualitative study

Transitioning to a life with disability in rural South Africa: A qualitative study

Strategies employed in coping with physical disabilities acquired during adulthood in rural South Africa

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About