Trots att arbetsmarknaden ska vara inkluderande och tillgänglig visar siffror från Arbetsförmedlingen att arbetslösheten bland personer med funktionsnedsättning är hög. Personer med funktionsnedsättning är en mycket heterogen grupp. De har olika typer av psykiska/neuropsykiatriska, intellektuella och fysiska nedsättningar. Det kan även handlaom en nedsättning som är medfödd eller förvärvad senare i livet. Slutligen skiljer sig graden av nedsatt arbetsförmåga åt mellan olika personer. Sammantaget gör det att samhällets insatser för att skapa ett tillgängligt arbetsliv behöver kunna vara anpassade efter individuella behov.För att underlätta etablering på arbetsmarknaden för personer med funktionsnedsättning finns i dag flera strukturerade arbetssätt. En metod som varit framgångsrik och gett bättre resultat än andra är Supported Employment där kontinuerligt och personligt stöd ges till arbetsgivaren. Däremot saknas det i dag kunskap om metoden leder till varaktig etablering i arbetslivet och om de individuella effekterna. Ett centralt hinder för att lyckas i arbetet med att öka inkluderingen på arbetsmarknaden är en outvecklad och ineffektiv samverkan mellan olika centrala aktörer. Särskilt svårt är det när de inblandade aktörerna lyder under olika regelverk och har olika organisatoriska förutsättningar och roller.Mycket av forskningen fokuserar på individuella egenskaper. Forskningen måste bredda perspektivet och inkludera mer av organisatoriska och samhälleliga förutsättningar för ökad inkludering.

“Disability and Social Representations Theory” erbjuder teoretisk och metodologisk kunskap för att kunna studera allmänhetens uppfattningar om funktionsnedsättning. I boken undersöks hur människor kollektivt tänker och kommunicerar i detta sammanhang. Teorin om sociala representationer används som ett gemensamt teoretiskt ramverk.

Disability and Social Representations Theory provides theoretical and methodological knowledge to uncover the public perception of disabilities.

Over the last decade there has been a significant shift from body to environment, and the relation between the two, when understanding the phenomenon of disabilities. The current trend is to view disabilities as the outcome of this interaction; in short from a biopsychosocial perspective. This has called for research based on frameworks that incorporate both the body and the environment. There is a great corpus of knowledge of the functions of a body, and a growing corpus of environmental factors such as perceptions among specific groups of persons towards disabilities. However, there is a lack of knowledge of the perception of disabilities from a general population. This book offers an insight into how we can broaden our understanding of disability by using Social Representations Theory, with specific examples from studies on hearing loss. The authors highlight that attitudes and actions are outcomes of a more fundamental disposition (i.e., social representation) towards a phenomenon like disability.

This book is written assuming the reader has no prior knowledge of Social Representations Theory. It will be of interest to all scholars, students and professionals working in the fields of disability studies, health and social care, and sociology.

Background and Objectives: Societal factors seem to exercise a strong influence on hearing aid uptake, use, and satisfaction. In particular, knowledge, perception, and attitude of people will have bearing towards their and others health behavior and decisions. The current study aimed at understanding the perception of hearing aids by adults belonging to the general population in different countries. Subjects and Methods: The study employed a crosssectional design. A sample of 404 adults from India, Iran, Portugal, and the United Kingdom were recruited by relying on a convenience sampling. Previously published data was re-analyzed but it was applied for different approach. Free association task was used to collect the data. They were asked to provide up to five words or phrases that come to mind when thinking about “hearing aids.” The data was initially analyzed based on qualitative content analysis. This was followed by quantitative cluster analysis and chi square analysis. Results: The content analysis suggested 39 main categories of responses related to hearing aids. The cluster analysis resulted in five main clusters, namely: 1) positive attitude, 2) external factors, 3) hearing aid use and satisfaction, 4) etiology, and 5) benefits and limitations of technology. A few demographic factors (i.e., education, occupation type, country) showed association with different clusters, although country of origin seemed to be associated with most clusters. Conclusions: The study provides us with unique insights into the perception of hearing aids by the general public, and additionally, the way demographic variables may influence these perceptions.

This study aims to understand patterns in the social representation of hearing loss reported by adults across different countries and explore the impact of different demographic factors on response patterns. The study used a cross-sectional survey design. Data were collected using a free association task and analysed using qualitative content analysis, cluster analysis and chi-square analysis. The study sample included 404 adults (18 years and over) in the general population from four countries (India, Iran, Portugal and UK). The cluster analysis included 380 responses out of 404 (94.06%) and resulted in five clusters. The clusters were named: (1) individual aspects; (2) aetiology; (3) the surrounding society; (4) limitations and (5) exposed. Various demographic factors (age, occupation type, education and country) showed an association with different clusters, although country of origin seemed to be associated with most clusters. The study results suggest that how hearing loss is represented in adults in general population varies and is mainly related to country of origin. These findings strengthen the argument about cross-cultural differences in perception of hearing loss, which calls for a need to make necessary accommodations while developing public health strategies about hearing loss.

Kapitlet handlar om den fysiska arbetsmiljön och ljudmiljön i relation till hörsel och hörselnedsättning samt vilka konsekvenser det får för individens upplevelse av arbetssituationen.

Studien undersökte och jämförde rektorers, lärares och elevhälsovårdspersonals sociala representationer (SR) om inkludering av elever med diagnos inom autismspektrum (Asperger). Svensk skolpersonal inbjöds att anonymt besvara en webbaserad enkät (N = 229). En associationsstudie genomfördes för att samla in data. Representationernas innehåll och struktur utforskades med hjälp av teorin om sociala representationer. Våra resultat tyder på att rektorer främst fokuserade inkludering på organisatorisk och strukturell nivå. Personal från elevhälsan betonade utbildningsstrategier, struktur och rutiner samt elevens behov och individuella potential. Lärare lyfte fram den egna interaktionen som den viktigaste aspekten och upplevde i större utsträckning än övriga tillfrågade grupper inkludering som en börda. Teorin om sociala representationer ger en unik möjlighet beforska och ta fram program som syftar till att främja inkludering.

The current study examined and compared the social representations (SR) concerning the inclusion of students with Asperger diagnosis (AS) among principals, school health professionals, and teachers. Swedish school staff were invited to anonymously answer a web-based questionnaire (N=229). An association task was conducted to obtain data on principals, school health professionals and teachers’ of inclusion of students with AS. The content and structure of the SRs were explored by using the theoretical framework of social representation theory. Our results suggest that principals were mainly concerned with the organization and structural level of inclusion. School health professionals emphasized educational strategies, structure and routines and, students’ needs and their individual potentials whereas teachers refer to their own interaction as the most important aspect and more often than other staff referred to a burden. Social representation methodology offers unique opportunities for research as well as for applications aiming to promote inclusion.

Kapitlet fokuserar hur samverkansprocessen kan utvecklas och vilka främjande och hindrande mekanismer som kan påverka ett önskat utfall.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: In our previous studies we explored the social representation of hearing loss and hearing aids. In this study we aimed at exploring if the positive, neutral and negative connotations associated with the social representation of 'hearing loss' and 'hearing aids' for the same categories vary across countries. In addition, we also looked at if there is an association between connotations and demographic variables. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A total of 404 individuals from four countries were asked to indicate the words and phrases that comes to mind when they think about 'hearing loss' and 'hearing aids'. They also indicated if the words and phrases they reported had positive, neutral or negative association, which were analyzed and reported in this paper. RESULTS: There are considerable differences among the countries in terms of positive, neutral and negative associations report for each category in relation to hearing loss and hearing aids. However, there is limited connection between demographic variables and connotations reported in different countries. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggesting that the social representation about the phenomenon hearing loss and hearing aids are relatively stable within respondents of each country.

The current study was aimed at understanding the social representation of hearing aids in India, Iran, Portugal, and the United Kingdom. We also compared these results to explore the cross-cultural differences and similarities among these countries. The study involved a cross-sectional design, and the data were collected from four different countries using the snowball sampling method. Data were analyzed using a content analysis to identify the most-similar categories of responses reported, a co-occurrences analysis to see which of these categories are reported commonly, and a chi-square analysis to study if there was any association between positive, neutral, and negative connotations among participants in different countries. The current study revealed four different social representations of hearing aids from India, Iran, Portugal, and the United Kingdom, and also a global index. The study results provide very useful insights into how hearing aids are represented in the society. These findings may have important implications for public education and also for manufacturers from the viewpoint of designing and marketing hearing aids in different countries.

Hearing loss is one of the most common chronic conditions in older adults. In audiology literature, several studies have examined the attitudes and behavior of people with hearing loss; however, not much is known about the manner in which society in general views and perceives hearing loss. This exploratory study was aimed at understanding the social representation of hearing loss (among the general public) in the countries of India, Iran, Portugal, and the UK. We also compared these social representations.