Abstract:
BACKGROUND: Research has shown that all children and adolescents have the right to participate
in their everyday life. However, little is known about what impacts the participation of children
and adolescents with disabilities living in low-and middle-income countries.
OBJECTIVE: The present study undertakes a scoping review of research to synthesise the current
literature about barriers and facilitators to participation in everyday life for children and
adolescents with disabilities living in low- and middle-income countries.
METHOD: A scoping review was conducted. The databases Psyc INFO, MEDLINE, CINAHL,
Pubmed, ERIC and African Wide information were searched for studies published between
2001 and April 2018. Data was analysed using deductive content analysis. The barriers and
facilitators to participation were categorised into personal factors, social factors, environmental
factors, and policy and programme factors.
RESULT: In the end, 17 articles were included for data extraction as they mentioned barriers and
facilitators to participation for children and adolescents with disabilities. Most of the reviewed
studies reported on barriers to participation. Only one of the studies was performed in a
country classified as a low-income country; all other studies were performed in middle-income
countries. The results indicate that some factors, especially social factors, could be perceived
as both facilitators and barriers to participation.
CONCLUSION: There is a lack of studies describing barriers and facilitators in low- and middleincome countries. Barriers and facilitators in proximity to the child and family are most
frequently described in the literature.
