Objective
To develop and validate a scale to assess people’s attitudes and perspectives toward persons with disabilities.
Methods
The three-stage development of the scale included a preliminary version drafted from the literature review and a nominal group process. Thereafter, the draft was examined further and revised through two rounds of Delphi survey by 16 disability experts. Lastly, the psychometric properties of the scale were assessed through an online survey of 1,359 employees at three university hospitals.
Results
A 32-item scale, defined after two Delphi surveys, was refined into 14 items with four subcategories: community integration, discomfort, charitability, and sense of burdening. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.839 and domain reliability from 0.638 to 0.845. Recent education on disabilities yielded more positive attitudes toward persons with disabilities. Meaningful acquaintances with disabilities yielded more positive attitudes toward persons with disabilities.
Conclusion
This newly developed scale that measures attitudes toward persons with disability is reliable and valid. A future use of the scale could be to measure attitudinal improvements toward persons with disabilities after awareness education.

Citations

• REKLAMLARDA ENGELLİ TEMSİLLERİNİN KULLANIMININ ENGELLİLERE YÖNELİK TUTUMLARA ETKİSİ
  Sevgi Nur Kuruş
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• Measuring health sciences students' attitudes toward persons with disabilities: Is one scale better than another?
  Isabel Hartner, William S. Brooks, Tanvee Sinha, Ashley Parish, Donald H. Lein, Elizabeth Wylie, Cathy Carver, David Goretzko, Adam B. Wilson
  Anatomical Sciences Education.2025; 18(8): 774.     CrossRef
• Employers’ Perspectives of Important Skills for Employees With Disabilities: The Entry-Level Employability Skills and Behaviors Scale
  Kyle Reardon, Dawn A. Rowe, Deanne K. Unruh
  Assessment for Effective Intervention.2025; 50(2): 97.     CrossRef
• Psychometric properties of the Iranian version of the attitudes to disability scale in people with physical disabilities
  Mahnaz Pouresmaeil, Tahereh Dehdari, Isa Mohammadi Zeidi, Neda Mohammadi, Seyed Habib A Rahmati
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• Understanding medical students' knowledge and attitudes about cerebral palsy
  Brianna Callahan, Andrea Janis, Swetha Reddi, Andrew S. Nowak, Ronald Thomas, Karin Przyklenk, Christina Santia, Charles Pelshaw
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• Less or more? Evaluating approaches to filling the gap: awareness-raising experience design for social inclusion
  Elly Fitriana Soedjito, Yuichiro Nagatsu, Akane Matsumae
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• Autism in eye care: A mixed‐methods study of professional knowledge, confidence and clinical experience
  Chris Edwards, Abigail M. A. Love, Ru Ying Cai, Paul A. Constable, Daniel C. Love, Ketan Parmar, Emma Gowen, Vicki Gibbs
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• Integration of Disability Awareness Improves Medical Students’ Attitudes Toward People with Disabilities
  Tanvee Sinha, Ashley Parish, Donald H. Lein, Elizabeth Wylie, Cathy Carver, William S. Brooks
  Medical Science Educator.2024; 34(3): 561.     CrossRef
• The use of virtual nominal groups in healthcare research: An extended scoping review
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In Korea, the need of medical care is high in persons with disabilities. But the health care system, especially the continuum of long-term rehabilitation care for the persons with disabilities is not well established. Under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), the pressure to open up the health care market has been increased in Korea. This article examines the health care system of developed countries (USA, UK and Japan) with review of the health policies, laws, income security and pensions, payment systems, medical rehabilitation facilities, and home health services for the persons with disabilities.And this article also discusses the process of the health care market opening in Korea, the debating issues, the implications for the domestic medical market, and the matter of concern in rehabilitation medicine field. In the viewpoint of the rehabilitation medicine, the transitional services and home health services for the persons with disabilities should be prepared, and the public health should be expanded as the social network of the persons with disabilities, before the health care market is fully opened up. (J Korean Acad Rehab Med 2004; 28: 195-203)

Objective
To survey the utilization status of public health and medical rehabilitation services by the persons with disabilities in community.Method: The subjects were 118 patients who were admitted to National Rehabilitation Center from January 1998 to December 2001 and agreed with home-visit. The subjects were assessed of disability level with functional scales, utilization rate of public health and medical rehabilitation services, utilization facilities, and service contents. Results: The subjects included 78 pesons with stroke, 20 persons with spinal cord injury, 9 pesons with traumatic brain injury, and 11 persons with other diseases. Only 28.0% of the low-functional group used public health andmedical rehabilitation services, showing a low utilization rate than the high-functional group (43.2%). 17 out of 24 persons who used rehabilitation clinics were in the low-functional group and 9 out of 13 persons who used welfare agency were in the high-functional group (p=0.012). In two groups, most frequent utilization out of the service contents was the exercise therapy.Conclusion: The utilization rate of public health and medical rehabilitation services in communities was 32.8%. It is necessary to supply the persons with disabilities in community with the rehabilitation service for the continuum of rehabilitation. (J Korean Acad Rehab Med 2004; 28: 175- 181)

Based on the principles of active participation and non- discriminatory treatment, the Five Year Plan II for the Welfare of the Disabled (the Plan-II) is a policy initiative upgraded from its predecessor, the Five Year Plan-I.

The goal of the Plan-II is social integration. People with disabilities should be able to join other members of society in a number of activities including, but not limited to, economic ones. Under this goal, the Plan-II sets forth the following five objectives. First, age-specific welfare services should be developed. Second, students with disabilities should have equal opportunities for education in the same setting as other students. Third, the disabled should enjoy job security through the balanced development of welfare and economy. Fourth, the disabled should have an equitable access to IT (information technology)-enabled services. And fifth, safe and convenient transportation system should be put in place for the disabled.

The Plan-II also contains the budget and the means of financing, previously excluded in the Plan-I. An estimated KRW 7 trillion and 472.6 billion is needed to finance the above-mentioned programs between 2003 and 2007. (J Korean Acad Rehab Med 2003; 27: 463-470)

There is a large and growing number of persons with disabilities today. In most countries, at least one person out of 10 is disabled by impairment, and at least 25 percent of any population is adversely affected by the presence of disability. They are entitled to the same rights as all other human beings and to equal opportunities. Full participation and equality of disabled person means opportunities equal to those of the whole population and an equal share in the improvement in living conditions resulting from social and economic development. The ultimate responsibility for dealing with the consequences of disability rests with Governments. Governments must ensure that people who are made dependent by severe disability have an opportunity

to achieve a standard living equal to that of their citizens. Non-government organizations can assist Governments by formulating needs, suggesting suitable solutions and providing services complementary to those provided by Governments. This article looks into the current position of the policies for persons with disabilities in our society and reviews the main tasks of disability policies including social, employment, educational and medical security, and the social integration. Especially, as a physiatrist, the policy tasks of medical security for the disabled persons is emphasized. (J Korean Acad Rehab Med 2003; 27: 157-163)