Within the Independent Living Program in Georgia (ILPG), The McLain Association for Children (MAC) Georgia, Coalition for Independent Living (CIL), and National Association of Local Government Authorities of Georgia (NALAG) are working, “To support independent living of persons with disabilities through evidence-based advocacy and sustainable service provision.” The Program is being conducted in six municipalities, including Lagodekhi, Telavi, Ozurgeti, Kutaisi, Zugdidi, and Batumi.
In support of this goal, and specifically generating an evidence base for the Program to advocate on the basis of, Caucasus Resource Research Center Georgia (CRRC Georgia) carried out a needs assessment in each of the municipalities.
The key research question the needs assessment aims to address is:
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- What are the main needs of people with disabilities in each municipality?
In addition to the above, the study specifically aims to address the following secondary research questions:
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- How do needs vary by the social and demographic characteristics of respondents?
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- What are the most important needs for individuals with physical, mental, hearing, vision, and intellectual disabilities, respectively?
To address these research questions, the needs assessment used a mixed methods approach, including quantitative and qualitative data collection. The qualitative data collection consisted of pre- and post-survey focus groups. The quantitative data collection consisted of a survey. The survey was conducted between September 9 and 16. Overall, 707 respondents were interviewed.
Needs assessment report in English.