| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立陽明大學 === 國際衛生碩士學位學程 === 105 === Background: Educational and health care professionals’ attitudes can have a significant effect on the decision of persons with disabilities (PWDs) attending school or seeking health care. The professionals mostly develop their attitudes early in education.
Objectives: This study main objective is to assess the attitudes towards people with physical and intellectual disability among undergraduate university students from educational (primary teaching and psychology) and health care (nursing and medical) programs in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. We also want to explore the attitudinal differences (1) among the four departments, (2) between the first and fifth semester, and (3) towards people with intellectual disability (ID) and physical disability (PD).
Methods: We used an exploratory cross-sectional survey method and developed the questionnaire based on literature review and adapted into the culture of the study site. The “ATTID questionnaire” from Morin et. al was used as a reference for our questionnaire. Among the four departments from three universities in Banda Aceh, 963 questionnaires were collected in class, with a response rate of 85.7%. Only students from the first and fifth semester were included in the study.
Results: The results showed that students’ attitudes were generally positive. They had higher scores on questions concerning governmental help or rights of PWDs compared to personal interaction with or inclusion of PWDs in society. Having previous contact with PWDs was significantly correlated to positive attitudes. (1) The fifth semester had slightly higher positive attitudes compared to the first semester. (2) The medical department had the most positive attitudes compared to primary teaching department who had the least. (3) No clear pattern was detected comparing attitudes towards intellectual and physical disability.
Conclusion: The overall students’ attitudes were positive, but they had a relatively low level of understanding of disabilities, as well as a lack of pre-service training. These students have a high chance to get in contact with PWDs in their professional career and should be prepared for it. Therefore, suggestions to include disability issues in university curriculum and emphasize an early contact with PWD can be made.
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