Winning hearts through statistics

Presentation to Montague Rotary March 28, 2007
I want to win your hearts today through statistics. It’s not enough to see and read anecdotal information on disabilities. The information I am presenting is based on the latest reports by Statistics Canada, the Federal and Provincial governments.

According to Statistics Canada, one in 7 Islanders has a disability or 14.4%. That means 19,000 Islanders, making them one of the largest minorities in the population.

Who are they? The are people in this room, members of your family if your family is moderate sized, friends, people in Rotary, Lions, Kinsmen, your church, political party, people you work with.

Disability is not a childhood problem despite the emphasis on childhood disabilities. For children under 15, the rate of disability is only 5%. Most disabilities occur from middle life onward.

Disability is defined by Statistics Canada

any restriction or lack resulting from an impairment of ability to perform an activity in the manner or within the range considered normal for a human being.

This is the World Heath Organization definition.

Let me give you some examples. Small hearing loss isn’t a disability: loss of hearing requiring a hearing aid is a disability. A limp isn’t a walking disability: a mobility problem requiring a cane, crutches or wheelchair is.

Disabilities are implicitly long term. If one breaks a leg, there is no disablement in the sense of a permanent disability. If one loses the ability to walk securely over a long period of time that is a mobility disability.

Disability among children is rare. The occurrence of disability increases with age. By age 65, some 35% of the population has developed a disability. By age 75, that is now 50% of the population.

Some of the most common disabilities are mobility (walking) at 50% of the disability population, hearing at 30%, seeing at 30%, agility at 15%, and learning/Speech other – 6 %.

While Canadians with disabilities are protected from discrimination by the constitution, the practical realities are difficult. If you give some one an assistive device – wheelchair, hearing aid – will they still have access to normal society? Will they be able to use the wheelchair without building a ramp on their home, widening doorways, using a wheelchair bus service?

Governments have come to understand the complexity of the problem of inclusion includes both hard supports (assistive devices) and soft supports (community, employment, education and home care supports)

A joint Federal Provincial 2004 study found needs for assistive devices was prevalent with 1/3 of disabled – i.e. 2/3 had no need for assistive device or technical aid while the remainder had an unmet need.

That study showed a continuing need for devices on PEI including 300 grasping tools / hand brace, 550 hearing aids and devices, 375 learning aids, 550 bathroom grab bars, 550 wheelchairs and scooters, and 300 pairs of glasses.

Governments have been studying the problem of how to provide these disability supports since the Kirby report in mid 90’s proposing various structures at the Federal and Provincial level. By 2000 they had issued 2 studies: In Unison A Canadian Approach to Disabilities and In Unison 2000

Some provinces already had disability support programs like Ontario. In 2001 PEI inaugurated the Disability Support Program. PEI agreed to provide assistive devices and technical aids, community access, transportation access, employment and education supports, homecare, respite care.

The PEI DSP program was comprehensive in scope but severely under-funded. To an existing budget of $5 million and 150 recipients the Province added only $1.6 in new money but 800 more applicants. The money was stretched too thin.

Problems started appearing right away with a flurry of Human Rights Commission and Privacy cases. In fact, 50% of all complaints to these two bodies are related to the DSP.
Seniors were excluded despite being 45% of Islanders with disabilities and their obvious higher rates of disability. This can only be defended as a cost saving measure.

Last year the DSP was dealt a severe blow when $1 million was cut back. Harsh new rules were introduced to contain costs.

We call on Government to reform the DSP to meet the needs of Islanders with Disabilities by including all Islanders with disabilities, reforming the program to end human rights abuses, and fund the program at a level to meet the unmet needs of Islanders with disabilities.