Empowerment Issues in Services to Individuals With Disabilities

Abstract

"Empowerment" has become a widely used term in discussions of disability and rehabilitation issues. However, the term has been given a confusing variety of meanings and interpretations. The meanings and some conflicting views of empowerment are reviewed. We argue that there is a great deal more clarity regarding how disability services currently limit empowerment than about what empowerment is, and we outline five core features of disability services which are said to be disempowering. Elements of a service system that overcome these limitations and promote empowerment are presented. Incorporating these elements will require a more radical restructuring of current service systems than many have supposed.

A measure of patient empowerment in hospital environments catering for older people

“…The concept of empowerment has become increasingly popular in nursing. As a result, it has been used in a variety of contexts and given an assortment of meanings (Gibson 1991, Hagner & Marrone 1995). In an attempt to synthesize these meanings, Gibson (1991) conducted a detailed concept analysis leading to the redefinition of empowerment from the perspective of health care.…”

If work makes people with mental illness sick, what do unemployment, poverty, and social isolation cause?

“…There is often a presumption that good planning naturally leads to actions in service to those plans. This seemingly logical progression of events is not the norm in planning whether viewing the lives of people with disabilities (Ferlenger, 1995, West & Parent, 1992 or those without disabilities (Hagner & Marrone, 1995, Hahn, 1991, Jenkinson, 1993. People who have not partaken of early educational and vocational experiences or whose communication skills are impaired often are "novice decision-makers" (Biersdorff, 1995) vis-a-vis life planning.…”

Promoting Participation in Organizational Decision Making by Clients with Severe Mental Illness

“…Mental health organizations need to acknowledge that psychiatric symptoms may prevent some clients from meaningfully participating in decision making during certain times, as was the case in this study (Gutiérrez, GlenMaye, & DeLois, 1995;Torrey, 1994). In addition, many clients do not have the skills or experience to participate in the decision making process (Croft & Beresford, 1992;Dillon, 1994;Hagner & Marrone, 1995;Penney, 1994;Sundram, 1994). Thus, some clients require psychiatric treatment and skill building before they can meaningfully participate.…”