HEALTH SCIENCE STUDENTS' IMAGES OF DISABLED PEOPLE

Abstract

A questionnaire survey of 907 students in six health professions, indicated inaccuracies in their knowledge of handicapped people. The size of the handicapped population was overestimated and major disabling conditions misidentified. The number of institutionalized handicapped and their social isolation was exaggerated. Handicapped people's employment status and qualifications were underestimated but community assistance received was overestimated. There was little awareness of sex differences in handicap. Students' descriptions of the disabling conditions of relatives and friends, when compared with population morbidity, suggest their perception of the composition of the handicapped population is biased. Mental retardation, paralysis and cerebral palsy were cited far more frequently than would be expected from population morbidity data but less visible disabilities were under‐reported. Possible consequences of such lack of knowledge are discussed. 1988 Public Health Association of Australia