The lived experience of people with upper limb absence living in Uganda : a qualitative study

Morgado-Ramirez, DR, Nakandi, B, Ackers, HL ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7811-636X, Ssekitoleko, R, Mwaka, E, Kenney, LPJ ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2164-3892, Holloway, C and Donovan-Hall, M 2022, 'The lived experience of people with upper limb absence living in Uganda : a qualitative study' , African Journal of Disability, 11 , p. 890.

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Abstract

Background: The impact of upper limb absence on people’s lived experiences remains severely under-explored, particularly in African countries, with implications for policy and service design. Objectives: explore the lived experiences of people with upper limb absence (PWULA) living in Uganda. Method: informed by preliminary work, we designed a qualitative study employing semi-structured interviews to understand the experience of living with upper limb absence in Uganda. Seventeen adults with upper limb absence were individually interviewed and their interviews analysed utilizing thematic analysis. Results: seven themes illustrating the impact on the individual’s life after amputation were identified and categorized into (1) living and adapting to life, (2) productivity and participation and (3) living within the wider environment. This paper presents three main findings: 1) PWULA need psychological and occupational support services which are not available in Uganda, 2) PWULA want to work but face multiple barriers to employment and limited support, this is combined with complex parenting and caring responsibilities, 3) the local Ugandan culture and social structures affect in both positive and negative ways the everyday life of PWULA. Conclusion: This paper contributes the lived experiences of PWULA in Uganda which are lacking in the literature. PWULA face ableism and hardship underpinned by a lack of formal support structures and policies, which may in turn exacerbate the impact of upper limb absence on multiple facets of life.

Item Type:	Article
Schools:	Schools > School of Health and Society > Centre for Health Sciences Research Schools > School of Health and Society > Centre for Applied Research in Health, Welfare and Policy
Journal or Publication Title:	African Journal of Disability
Publisher:	AOSIS
ISSN:	2223-9170
Related URLs:	Publication
Funders:	Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)
Depositing User:	Professor Laurence Kenney
Date Deposited:	20 Jan 2022 10:25
Last Modified:	17 Aug 2022 08:02
URI:	https://usir.salford.ac.uk/id/eprint/62819

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