M. Landgraff1, D. Snyder2, J.Y. Deng3,4, W. Ge5,6
1Youngstown State University, Health Professions, Youngstown, United States, 2Private Practice, Oak Brook, United States, 3First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Rehabilitation Medicine, Xi'an, China, 4Xi’an Yanta Deng Jingyuan Community Rehabilitation Volunteer Service Center, Xi'an, China, 5Youngstown State University, Graduate Studies in Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Youngstown, United States, 6Youngstown State University, Center of Excellence in Sports Medicine and Applied Biomechanics, Youngstown, United States
Background: Persons with disabilities comprise the largest minority group in the United States. The culture of disability has emerged in American society to allow persons with disabilities to benefit from social policies and programs that facilitate their access to healthcare, education, employment, and public services. The culture of disability is a culture that celebrates disabilities by promoting the value of diversity, equity, and inclusion to provide opportunities for persons with disabilities to become participating and contributing members of society. Unfortunately, a culture of disability is not consistently found in all regions of the world. For example, persons with disabilities in China are traditionally less visible due to a negative view of disabilities. Without a formal culture of disability, persons with disabilities in China often face challenges in healthcare, education, employment, and public services.
Purpose: The purpose of the project was to improve the understanding of the American culture of disability in Chinese audiences. Specifically, we planed to promote cultural competence among Chinese clinicians, medical school students, government officials, and community members by explaining and presenting the American culture of disability and sharing the fundamental American value of diversity, equity, and inclusion in American society.
Methods: We received a grant from the U.S. Department of State to host an academic symposium on the culture of disability in China to provide a platform for scholars from the U.S. and China to discuss the culture of disability with clinicians, medical school students, government officials, and community members.
Results: The Sino-American Symposium on the Culture of Disability 2019 was successfully hosted by Youngstown State University Department of Physical Therapy on July 19-21, 2019 in Xi’an City, Shaanxi Province, China. The Symposium was held concurrently with the Annual Conference of Community Rehabilitation Committee and the Traditional Chinese Medicine Rehabilitation Committee of Shaanxi Rehabilitation Medicine Association. The local hosts included Xi’an Yanta Deng Jingyuan Community Rehabilitation Volunteer Service Center and Daxingshan Temple Branch of the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine of the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University. The symposium covered a spectrum of topics from cultural competence, disability law and policies, and children with disabilities to persons with disabilities in rural areas. About 200 individuals attended the symposium.
Conclusion(s): An academic symposium is an effective platform to cultivate a culture of disability. However, it is a gradual process and requires a commitment to continued efforts. Based on the success of the first symposium, we received the grant from the U.S. Department of State again to host the 2nd symposium in Kunming City, Yunnan Province, China, in 2021. The local partner is College of Rehabilitation Medicine at Kunming Medical University.
Implications:
It is the social responsibility of physical therapists to advocate for persons with disabilities regardless where they live. Many physical therapy colleagues across the U.S. have approached us expressing their interests in participating in the symposium in the future. The project provides insights into how to cultivate a culture of disability worldwide to advocate for opportunities for persons with disabilities to become participating and contributing members of society.
Funding, acknowledgements: Department of State of the USA.
Keywords: Symposium, Cultural Competence, Persons with disability
Topic: Professional issues: diversity and inclusion
Did this work require ethics approval? No
Institution: N/A
Committee: N/A
Reason: This is a project to addresses new and unique developments in education in an international setting.
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
