“This Is the Story of Community Leadership with Political Backing. (PM1)” Critical Junctures in Paralympic Legacy: Framing the London 2012 Disability Inclusion Model for New Global Challenges

Abstract

The London 2012 Paralympic Games was called “the most successful Paralympic Games ever” (by the then-President of the IPC), and it saw more athletes from more countries than ever before compete and become global heroes for the first time in a redeveloped part of East London which also hosted “the most accessible Olympic Games ever” that summer. However, the model used to design and deliver disability inclusion for London 2012, and its legacy, has never been explicitly written up. This paper presents new primary evidence from first-hand research from those who were involved; retrospectively framing the London 2012 Disability Inclusion Model such that it might be usable and developed for other global disability challenges. We used an adapted Delphi methodology, through four rounds: beginning with an initial hypothesis and testing through semi-structured interviews with ten key players in the London 2012 disability inclusion approach. Using thematic analysis with consensus building surveys and workshops we came to a settled unanimous agreement on the 12-step London 2012 Disability Inclusion Model comprising three parts: (Get ready) community-led mission setting, (Get set) essential building blocks and (Go) enabling a culture of success. The model is presented here, alongside a narrative on its uniqueness and replicability to other major programs, as a public good. We welcome its active use, testing and adaption by others in service of disability innovation for a fairer world.

The Silent Majority: Understanding and Supporting Access and Inclusion for People with Disabilities Living in Predominantly Low-Resource Communities

“…Simply resolving issues with accessibility by applying local laws and resources will likely not be sufficient to resolve inclusion. Previous studies have demonstrated that empowering leaders within the community to foster inclusive opportunities for people with disabilities can be achieved through several relevant strategies, such as the creation of sustainable relationships and supportive networks, joint problem solving, welcoming disruption, and community-led objectives [18][19][20][21][22]. These methods should align with the Social Model of Disability, where the focus or blame is not on the person with a disability that has an impairment that directly prevents them from participation, but instead places the blame on a society that socially isolates and oppresses [23].…”

Assistive Technology (AT), for What?

“…Identifying an operational approach to delivery with similar complexity toward a disability inclusion aim is challenging. For another study, we mapped the London 2012 Disability Inclusion approach, using a Delphi methodology with expert testimony [23] as an example, and found 12 steps of the operational activity necessary to deliver the complex intervention, as shown in Figure 1. This is helpful to consider as context.…”

“…The delivery of disability inclusion in the London 2012 Paralympic Games program is considered one of the most challenging and successful disability inclusion interventions [23]. It should be acknowledged that there is much to separate it from global work on AT delivery: a largely national rather than global locus of leadership (though with global stakeholders, such as the International Paralympic Committee and delivery partners); and the delivery of a discrete program of events, which together create a megaevent, compared with a continuous program of activity.…”

“…Our research found the London 2012 approach was not uniquely applicable. Still, it would benefit other areas of disability innovation that are complex and involve not only delivery by changes in attitude [23]. In fact, it is difficult to offer another comparison intervention that has been mapped in such a way by scale and thematics alone.…”

“…This evidence is supplemented by five AT user and stakeholder interviews from Sierra Leone (also captured as part of the wider study). We also draw upon previous work we performed to map the experience of the London 2012 Paralympic Games [23], which considered what could be learned about driving large, complex partnerships toward disability inclusion. This work found that delivering a program that results in disability inclusion required twelve clear steps, which can be grouped into three stages: beforehand (Get Set), at the beginning (Get Ready), and throughout (Go).…”