Press Releases
Public show greater acceptance towards people with disability in survey
The public are showing greater acceptance of people with disabilities, according to a follow-up survey commissioned by the Sub-committee on Public Education on Rehabilitation of the Rehabilitation Advisory Committee.
Chairman of the Sub-committee on Public Education on Rehabilitation, Dr Ip Yan-ming, said today (June 23) that he was satisfied with the overall results of the survey. He said, "There are positive changes in the public attitude towards people with disability when compared with the 1994 benchmark survey."
"These changes include more acceptance to people with disabilities, such as interacting or participating in social activities and that the public are more willing to be their colleagues at work or neighbours," he said.
However, improvement in some other areas are rather insignificant as respondents still adopted a less positive attitude towards mentally ill (MI) than the mentally handicapped (MH). The survey also found that only about 60 per cent of the respondents were aware of the existence of the Disability Discrimination Ordinance.
Other major findings on public attitude towards people with disabilities are:
* Over 66 per cent of the respondents believed that the MH or MI should live in their own homes as far as possible and be taken care of by their family;
* Fewer respondents believed that MH and MI should reduce their activities in public places. (Relevant findings are: 8% for MH and 23% for MI in 2002 as against the respective figures of 11% and 31% in 1994)
* More respondents showed no objection to services centres for MH/MI to be built in their neighbourhood. (Relevant findings are: 88% for MH and 61% for MI in 2002 as against the respective figures of 86% and 57%)
"On the whole, the survey findings indicate that Government's effort in promoting and fostering the spirit of a society for all has been effective. However, there is still quite a lot to do before reaching the situation whereby people with disabilities are fully accepted," Dr Ip said.
"The Sub-committee will draw reference from the findings in mapping out the future strategy for promoting acceptance of people with disabilities in our community, " Dr Ip added.
The study was conducted by the Centre for Clinical Trials and Epidemiological Research of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. It included a benchmark survey and four follow-up surveys. The benchmark survey was carried out in 1994, and the first three follow-up surveys in 1995, 1996 and 1998. The fourth follow-up survey was conducted from December 2001 to January this year in which a total of 800 people aged between 18 and 60 were interviewed.
The study aims at examining the public's attitude towards people with disability in Hong Kong and to explore factors that are associated with this attitude. Discriminatory attitude was measured in three dimensions: attitude concerning social integration at the community level; attitude concerning interaction with people with disabilities at the personal level; and responses to the establishment of service centres for these people.
The survey report is available at the Health and Welfare Bureau website (http://www.info.gov.hk/hwb) for downloading.
End/Sunday, June 23, 2002