NEEDS ASSESSMENT FOR DISABILITY SERVICES IN SUPHAN BURI PROVINCE

Abstract

This was a survey research aimed at assessing the need for disability services in Suphanburi Province, Thailand. The inclusion criteria was persons with all types of disabilities registered and holding identification cards for persons with disabilities. Data was collected from 267 disabled people who registered between October 1994 and July 2016 and work in the Suphanburi Provincial Office of the Department of Social Development and Human Security.  The data obtained through interviews was then analyzed by using distribution, percentage, mean, standard deviation, median, quartile deviation and analysis of variance.

According to the findings, the needs of persons with disabilities can be divided into five dimensions in which government welfare assistance needs were the greatest followed by occupational and employment needs, accommodation needs, medical and public health needs and educational needs with mean scores of 3.21, 2.95, 2.87 and 3.21, respectively.  

When the differences in mean scores of the needs were compared between personal data and education needs, medical and public health needs, accommodation needs, occupational and employment needs and government welfare assistance needs, people with differences in age, marital status, educational attainment, occupation and monthly income had educational needs as well as occupational and employment needs at a statistically significant level of 0.01. Most of the disabled persons were found to have government welfare assistance needs at a medium level with a mean score of 3.21, accommodation needs at a medium level with a mean score of 2.95, medical and public health needs at a medium level with a mean score of 2.87 and education needs at a low level with a mean score of 2.35. 

Therefore, in the area of policies, social welfare models for disabled persons should be specified to be consistent with the needs of all types of disabled persons. Moreover, the performance of all laws concerning disabled persons should be monitored and assessed. In addition, education facilities nationwide must be a foundation for promoting occupational and employment guidelines for disabled persons. In the area of operations of the Suphanburi Office of Social Development and Human Security, the Office must support welfare in the area of occupations, medical and public health needs, education needs, accommodation needs and government welfare assistance needs for disabled persons with full coverage.