Group 3 — Care Force: An Idea Overcoming Stigma in Gated Communities
As part of the Service and Experience Design workshop, I along with my team mates Charley Vincent, Priyanka Joshi and Sanjana Shenoi are working on addressing the stigma associated with disability prevalent in the society.
Area of Intervention
The lack of interaction between people with disability and able bodied people is a contributing factor to the stigma. The area of intervention we have chosen is creation of inclusive communities where people with disability and able bodied people come together, interact and support each other. The interactions helps people with disability and the able bodied understand each other on a deeper level, know each others abilities and inabilities, ultimately contributing to stripping away the wrong notions about each other. We are focusing on gated communities comprising of middle and upper middle class people and this is a proposal on how its possible to make the gated community an inclusive one. We are inspired by meta design and are looking at creation of a platform of collective effort leading to overcoming stigma and empowering people with disability.
Proposal
Government of India has a vision of creating inclusive communities. Currently the ‘Accessible India Campaign’ works on inclusiveness on an infrastructure level. The aim is to make Government buildings and means of transport accessible for people with disability. In the future, the Government could give benefits for apartment builders which are inclusive. The government could set standards for inclusiveness in infrastructure and social context and provide certification for apartments which fulfil them. The certification will also act as a selling point for the builders.
We are proposing an organisation aimed at making social impact by raising consciousness about disability. The organisation is also keen in spreading the ideology of inclusive community. The organisation can provide service to the builders in achieving the standards to the certification for economic sustainability.
Stakeholder mapping
Stakeholder roles and motivation
Roadmap and scenarios
Above figure shows the road map of how the system will function over a period of time. When the Government announces the new policy, the builder will take the decision to make their apartment inclusive. The organisation can approach the builder and introduce their service and they make a contract. This is illustrated in the scenario shown below
Then, the organisation introduces themselves in the gated community and . As shown in the scenario below, the organisation gathers enthusiastic volunteers to form a group called ‘Care Force’. The care force brings together able bodied and people with disability and conducts various activities. They also look for problems faced by people with disability and works towards addressing them. Members from the Care Force is also part of the society hence they are also part of making decisions which affects the entire apartment.
The care force gives training for staff working in the apartment. Early intervention is also a key aspect when it comes to combating stigma. It’s important that children are sensitised from a very young age. A positive influence on children will prevent them from forming wrong perceptions about disability. Similarly, the Care Force conducts experiential activities as illustrated below which allows able bodied people to indulge with people with disabilities. The activity would be led by people with disability which would have a Role- Reversal effect.
This interaction will help the able bodied people not to focus on inabilities of PwD and see the whole person and see their abilities. The interaction also helps the PwD to understand able-bodied people on a deeper sense.
The Care Force also are involved in finding talents and aspirations of people with disability, give them training and provide platforms to exhibit their abilities. They also work on role reversal where a person with disability can help able bodied people. For example, as shown below, a person with disability can teach music to able bodied people.
The organisation will give training to the careforce so that they can be capable enough to continue the activities after the organisation has finished their work in that particular gated community. We also propose a digital platform which would help monitor the activities done by the care force and monitor them.
Once the guidelines provided by the government are met, the apartment will receive certification. The organisation can keep supporting the Care Force through the digital platform. Below map hows the activities done by the care force once they are given more control. The Care Force continues activities and updates their work on the digital platform. They will keep sensitising the new residents, identify the problems and needs of the PwD. They will also motivate other gated communities to follow inclusiveness. The recruitment of enthusiastic individuals will also continue.
Below figure shows the overall mapping of what is offered by the organisation.
Below figure shows experience of a person with disability throughout the journey.
Overall, the system that we have proposed focuses on removing stigma at a community level by active participation from the members of the community. Uprooting stigma is a long term process and will need a trial and error approach. Making the Care Force capable intends on giving the power to change on the members of the community itself ; from where the stigma is actually coming from. Also, empowering the Care Force and giving them control helps sustain the system in the long run. Early intervention in children helps to mould the future citizens of India free from negative attitudes towards people with disability. The activities also contributes largely in removing stigma through active involvement between people with disability and abled bodied people.
