Disability and community life: does regional living enhance social participation?
Samara McPhedran
Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs
Contact Email:   Annemarie.Nicolfahcsia.gov.au

It is well documented that disability can be associated with exclusion from full participation in employment, education, and social opportunities. This may in turn impact on the overall wellbeing and life satisfaction of people with disability. Less clear, however, are the ways in which location may affect social participation and access to social support among people with disability. Although it has been argued that living in regional Australia facilitates social connectedness and access to social support, the validity of this hypothesis in the context of disability has not been assessed. Therefore, the current study investigated different types of community involvement, levels of perceived social support, and self-reported life satisfaction among regional people with disability, relative to their counterparts living in major cities. The results partially support the hypothesis that location and social participation are related, with regional people with disability reporting higher involvement in volunteer work, more frequent attendance at community events, and stronger feelings of being part of their community. The findings are set within a policy framework, with emphasis on supporting social participation opportunities for people with disability.

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