“Nothing about us, without us”: stakeholders perceptions on strategies to improve persons with disabilities’ sexual and reproductive health outcomes in Ghana

Background: Persons with disabilities (PwDs) experience various adverse sexual and reproductive health (SRH) outcomes. However, there is a paucity of evidence on the strategies to improve their SRH outcomes. This study, therefore, used a pluralistic approach to explore PwDs and healthcare providers’ (HPs) perspectives on how to improve the SRH of PwDs in Ghana.

Methods: In-depth interviews were conducted with 62 purposively selected stakeholders (37 PwDs and 25 HPs) in the Kumasi Metropolis and Offinso North District. The data was subjected to reflexive thematic analysis.

Results: Six major themes were generated from the data: Training for disability-sensitive and inclusive healthcare, Healthcare inclusivity – ‘nothing about us, without us’, Raising awareness for accessibility and equity, Impactful continuous monitoring and evaluation, Vital empowerment for self-reliance and Educating for disability-inclusive healthcare environment.

These recommendations were synthesised to develop the THRIVE model–a comprehensive data driven framework from stakeholders that emphasises the importance of factors such as Training for disability-sensitive and inclusive healthcare, Healthcare inclusivity – ‘nothing about us, without us’, Raising awareness for accessibility and equity, Impactful continuous monitoring and evaluation, Vital empowerment for self-reliance and Enforcement of physical accessibility to improve their SRH outcomes.

Conclusion: Using the evidence based THRIVE model could facilitate the development and strengthening of existing interventions and policies including the disability Act 715 to improve the SRH access and outcomes of PwDs in Ghana and other low-and middle-income countries.