Voices on disability issues in Namibia: Evidence for entrenching occupational justice in disability policy formulation

Background: The national policy on disability in Namibia is overdue for review having been in existence for over 20 years. In 2017 the government of Namibia expressed intentions to review the policy. Concerns that can be framed as occupational injustice were raised by persons with disabilities in Namibia.

Aim: To gather evidence from persons with disabilities; disability policy decision makers and occupational therapists for contributing towards disability policy formulation using an occupational justice perspective.

Method: In-depth interviews were conducted with 15 persons with disabilities and eight disability policy decision-makers. Two focus groups were conducted with a total of 17 occupational therapists working in Namibia. NVivo 11 Pro version was used for thematic data analysis to generate themes with critical disability theory as the theoretical framework.

Findings: Occupational participation barriers identified in the study were: attitudinal, access, physical, expertise, and systemic. These barriers can be framed as occupational marginalization, occupational deprivation and occupational alienation. All participant groups suggested policy reforms to promote occupational participation among persons with disabilities.

Conclusion/Significance: There is potential for applying the participatory occupational justice framework in disability policy formulation to promote participation in occupations that are meaningful, and culturally relevant to persons with disabilities in Namibia.