Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #118189

Rani Eversley, PhD¹, Brian R. Grossman, ScM², Alice Wong, BA², Joseph T. Mullan, PhD³, Mauro Hernandez, BA², and Charlene Harrington, PhD⁴. (1) Social and Behavioral Sciences, UCSF, Box 0612, San Francisco, CA 94143, 415-502-2209, devers@itsa.ucsf.edu, (2) Center for Personal Assistance Services, University of California, San Francisco, 3333 California Street, Room 455, San Francisco, CA 94118, (3) Disability Statistics Center, Institute for Health & Aging, University of California, San Francisco, 3333 California Street, Room 340, San Francisco, CA 94118, (4) Department of Social & Behavioral Sciences, University of California San Francisco, 3333 California St, Suite 455, San Francisco, CA 94143-0612

Higher rates of disability resulting from chronic conditions have been cited among African Americans. African American disabled individuals also report higher rates of impairment and increased needs for personal assistance. Little is known, however, about the experiences of African Americans consumers of Personal Assistance Services (PAS). The UCSF Center for PAS conducted three groups among African American consumers between April and July 2004. Consumers were recruited from Centers for Independent Living (CRIL) (SF Bay Area and Washington, DC). Participants were recruited using posted notices and sign-up sheets. Participants were also informed of the groups by local CRIL staff. Groups were recorded, transcribed and coded for themes. Five dominant themes were reported: 1) PAS workers are unreliable - participants described how it is difficult to find PAS who consistently come to work, are attentive to consumer needs, and who remain on duty for the duration of the shift, 2) lack of training for PAS –poor performance of PAS was attributed to low levels of education and lack of training, 3) poor screening of PAS – PAS agencies were perceived as providing indadequate screening, 4) inadequate services for disabled peoples, many social services were perceived to be inadequate, transportation services were viewed to be especially problematic and 5) racial discrimination- African American consumers felt that their needs were taken less seriously by PAS and other service providers. Examples of these perceptions and strategies for empowering African American PAS users will be presented and discussed.

Learning Objectives:

• To identify racial discrimination and other barriers to using PAS among disabled African Americans.
• To discuss experiences with using PAS among disabled African Americans.
• To identify and discuss personal survival strategies among disabled African Americans

Keywords: African American, Disability

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation