This section was informed by literature and consultations with disability sector advocates in 2023.
‘Disability’ is something that happens when people with short or long-term physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory impairments face barriers in society. People experience these barriers differently, even if they have the same impairment as someone else. Designing environments and approaches that do not require everyone to have the same abilities to engage prevents people from being excluded. In 2013, approximately 24 percent of the Aotearoa population had a disability.
The New Zealand Health Survey found that people who have a disability used amphetamine-type substances and opioids at significantly higher rates than people who do not have a disability. However, people with a disability are also less likely to get support from addiction services; resulting in unmet needs. Discussion and exploration about how to best support people with a disability who use substances is needed.
Key considerations:
- Provide a service that can adapt to the unique needs of individual people. This is likely to need adjustment over time. Use a person-centred approach that recognises the diversity of disabilities, substance use, and individual experiences. This includes avoiding perpetuating stigma and stereotypes. Regularly check to see if there are things that might be preventing people from accessing services. Ask people, because their disabilities may not be visible.
- Disability health and social care providers can integrate harm reduction approaches into the provision of their service. This provides an opportunity for holistic person-centred care to be provided.
- Design your service so that anyone can access it (also known as using the principles of universal design). This could include reviewing the physical accessibility of the site, parking, signage, and acoustics. Explore this across all stages of a person’s contact with your service.
- Respond empathetically if people ask for changes to be made to your service so they can access it better. It often takes a lot of courage to make these requests.
- Regularly communicate the ways your service can accommodate a range of accessibility needs.
- Provide information in ways that it can be understood by many people. This could include ensuring content can be read by electronic readers (text in images cannot be read by electronic readers) and using New Zealand Sign Language interpreting services.
- Use a trauma-aware approach. People with disabilities experience a higher rate of violence and sexual abuse than people who do not have disabilities.
- Ensure the staff providing a service are trained to understand the diversity of disabilities that people may have, how to remove accessibility barriers, and how to make sure that everyone is made to feel welcomed, heard, and understood.
- Don’t assume that people are using substances because of their disability. While some people may use substances for this reason, such as to manage chronic pain or feelings of isolation, many use for other reasons.
- There is little data both in Aotearoa and internationally that adequately reflects the prevalence of disabled people who use drugs or their specific needs. There is little evidence that demonstrates best practice for harm reduction practices to effectively support this population.