Exploring the lived experiences of ethnic minority youth with disabilities: A systematic review

Friday, November 11, 2022

9:45 AM – 10:45 AM

Location: VIrtual Recording

Presenting Author(s)

Sally Lindsay, PhD

Senior Scientist
Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Non-presenting Author(s)

HA

Hiba Ahmed, Master of Public Health

Knowledge broker and RA
Bloorview Research Centre, United States
Vanessa Tomas, MSc.

PhD Candidate
University of Toronto and Bloorview Research Institute
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Abby Vijayakumar, HBSc

Research Assistant
Sunnybrook Hospital
Brampton, Ontario, Canada

Objective(s): To systematically explore the lived experiences of ethnic minority youth and young adults with disabilities.Data Sources: Systematic searches of eight databases (CINHAL, PsychInfo, Embase, Medline, Healthstar, Scopus, ERIC, Sociological abstracts) were conducted.Study Selection: Inclusion criteria involved: empirical research involving a qualitative design from the youth perspective, had a sample of youth or young adults (mean age 30 years or less) who identified as an ethnic minority with a disability, published in a peer-reviewed journal (without language restrictions) from 2000-2021. Four reviewers independently applied the inclusion criteria and rated the study quality.Data Extraction: Data were extracted by the first author using a standardized template. Four additional authors reviewed the data for accuracy.Data Synthesis: Studies were analyzed following a qualitative meta-synthesis approach involving an inductive interpretive technique. Twenty-one studies met the inclusion criteria, which involved 373 youth and young adults, across four countries over a 20-year period. We identified the following themes: (1) accessing and navigating services (i.e., environmental barriers; lack of supports, resources and information); (2) perceptions of disability (i.e., cultural adjustment and tensions between cultures; differing priorities for independence); (3) systemic factors (i.e., language and communication; stigma, discrimination and racism); (4) coping (i.e., reframing; and family involvement and support); and (5) intersectionality (i.e., disability, race and ethnicity, gender, and socio-economic status).

Conclusions: Our findings highlight how racial and ethnic minority youth with disabilities encounter many challenges in dealing with their condition and the urgent need for further research to develop a deeper understanding of their needs so that clinicians and service providers can enhance supports.Author(s) Disclosures: none

Learning Objectives:

To understand how racial and ethnic minority youth with disabilities encounter different challenges than other youth such as cultural adjustment, racism and culturally inappropriate service.
To understand how clinicians and service providers can recognize that ethnic minority youth may need different supports and resources.
To understand how clinicians, educators and service providers can recognize the complexity of how disability interacts with many other factors such as race, ethnicity, gender and socio-economic status.