How the community face people with disabilities

Introduction: The increase in life expectancy, the increase of elderly people and the technological progress especially in the field of medicine, make people with disabilities (PWD) an increasingly large population group. According to data collected by Eurostat, almost 25% of the citizens of the Union (24.7%) aged 16 and over are people with partial or severe gradual need. According to W.H.O people with disabilities exceed one billion or 15% of the world's population. Although legislative frameworks have been established for the treatment of people with disabilities, they often become the object of social racism and unequal treatment by the whole. Aim: The aim of this paper was to review the literature on how people with disabilities are treated by the community. Methodology: The methodology followed included a search for review and research studies of the last five years (2019 to 2023) in Pubmed and Cohrane Library databases in Greek and English language . Results: Only half of people with disabilities work, while this ratio for non-disabled people is 3 in 4. The 28.4% of disabled people are at risk of poverty or social exclusion compared to 17.8% of non-disabled people. Only 29.4% of people with disabilities have a higher education degree compared to 43.8% of people without disabilities. The 52% of people with disabilities feel discriminated against. Conclusions: It was found that the degree and nature of disability, self-esteem and character of people with physical disabilities affect social acceptance. People with special needs should be the social group with the highest unemployment rate and with the lowest income. Prejudice and racism towards people with disabilities can be eliminated by a radical change in the way of thinking, upgrading of education, cultivation of social consciousness and imposition of sanctions by the competent bodies.

Keywords: Acceptance, people with disabilities, community