Disability in Policy and Practice (POPH90088)

Disability inclusion is now a global health and development priority. This includes translating 2030 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goal commitments to disability inclusion, and leaving no one behind, into practice. Without disability inclusion we cannot end poverty for all and achieve universal health coverage. Ensuring the inclusion of people with disability in health and development processes, systems, and programs is increasingly required under law in both lower and higher income settings. An understanding of disability inclusive policy and practice is becoming essential knowledge for researchers, practitioners, and policy makers.

An estimated 16% of the world’s population has a disability, with 80% of people with disability living in resource poor contexts. People with disability are systematically excluded from social, economic, and political participation. In turn, people with disability are more likely to live in poverty, have poorer health outcomes, lower education attainment, and be negatively impacted by climate risk than people without disability. In this short course, you will learn to critically analyse the factors that contribute to these inequities and develop strategies for improving policy and practice.

Drawing on practitioner experience, including from people with disability themselves, this course will provide you with a foundation for critically considering issues of equity, representation, intersectionality, and meaningful participation. We will draw on real world examples from multiple sectors, including health, employment, education, and disaster risk reduction and humanitarian response. If you are working, or considering working, in global health and development, including in government, non-government, or United Nations agencies, this subject provides an essential foundation.

This course can be taken by students in postgraduate courses, including public health, development studies, and social studies, or through the University of Melbourne Community Access Program (CAP).