By Pamayla E. Darbyshire, APRN
The International Day of Persons with Disabilities is on December 3rd each year.
Proclaimed in 1992 by the United Nations General Assembly to "promote the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities in all areas of society and development, as well as raising awareness of their situation in all aspects of political, social, economic and cultural life" (IDPD, 2025).
Case management for international disability involves coordinating services and support for people with disabilities across multiple countries. It includes assessing needs, planning services, and connecting individuals to resources such as healthcare, education, and social programs, ensuring that efforts align with global disability rights and principles. (Committee on the RPD, n.d.).
Global disability data
According to the United Nations, approximately one billion people live with some disability worldwide. At 15 percent of the world's population, persons with disabilities account for the world's most significant minority. Furthermore, one out of every seven people is affected by disability. It is also estimated that almost half (46%) of people aged 60 or older have some form of functional diversity. An estimated 1.3 billion people experience significant disability. This represents 16% of the world's population, or 1 in 6 of us (GDIR, 2025; Le, 2024).
Some people with disabilities live with multiple impairments. No matter what kind or how many impairments, the impact of disability on one's life is profound. Disability often leads to poorer health. As a result, disability may lead to fewer economic opportunities. Many countries and cultures shun persons with disabilities, causing them to live in isolation (ADA, 2025).
Challenges
For many years, discrimination, lack of access to services, lack of social support, and ignorance about disability have been some of the main challenges persons face. Even in today's age of inclusivity, these challenges continue. Often, people with physical impairments are forced to go without the mobility aids they need (Le, 2024). Sadly, in many developing countries, people with disabilities go without. As a result, their function often declines.
Health inequities arise from unfair conditions faced by persons with disabilities, including stigma, discrimination, poverty, exclusion from education and employment, and barriers faced in the health system itself.
Disability Case Management – What Is It?
The Role of a Disability Case Manager
- The role of case management is to enable a person to access life in a way that is congruent with their abilities.
- Case management encompasses a wide range of activities; therefore, it is challenging to define it as a discrete intervention (GDIR, 2025; Lukersmith et al., 2016).
Regardless of the system in question, however, Case Managers are responsible for
- Managing care and intervention services these individuals will need in order to return to work and/or optimal functioning.
- The fundamental ingredient in case management is planning care, resulting in a care plan that serves as a roadmap for navigating a complex system.
Core functions of case management for international disability involve:
- Coordination and assistance in connecting to publicly funded and generic services
- Advocacy and support in navigating complex systems, ensuring respect and dignity for their rights as humans with disabilities
- Needs assessment to determine what types of support and services are necessary to fulfill the needs of individuals
- Monitoring and evaluating services for quality and positive outcomes for the individual.
(GDIR, 2025; Lukersmith et al., 2016)
These core functions are not that different than the care we give each day. They just involve a much wider audience.
International context and frameworks
- UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD): Serves as the global authorizing environment for disability inclusion, emphasizing principles like independent living, reasonable accommodation, and universal design. In 2006, the UN adopted the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). The CRPD declared accessibility and inclusion as fundamental rights for persons with disabilities. Unfortunately, much still needs to be done for these rights to be recognized.
- International cooperation: Article 32 of the CRPD emphasizes the importance of international cooperation in implementing the rights outlined in the Convention.
- National implementation: Article 33 of the CRPD encourages countries to establish national systems for implementation and monitoring, with the participation of disability organizations.
How case management is applied internationally
- National case management systems: Countries are developing their own systems for case management for people with disabilities, sometimes through government ministries or non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
- Insurance and workplace cases: In some countries, insurance companies offer case management services to help employees with disabilities recover and reintegrate into the workplace.
- Global organizations: Organizations like the World Disability Union unite entities across multiple countries to advocate for disability rights globally.
What can we do?
- We can help in the interaction with people with disabilities by promoting empathy, eliminating unconscious biases and prejudices, and valuing talent and market potential.
- We can ask questions before helping.
- We can use caution in assuming that someone with a disability needs help.
- We can be respectful. Speak directly to the person, speak respectfully and matter-of-factly.
- We cannot make assumptions. Since people with functional diversity are fully aware of what they can and cannot do, it is not necessary to make decisions for them
- We can organize spaces. Chaotic environments with accumulated obstacles complicate access and transit.
- We can use inclusive language as a step towards ensuring dignified treatment.
Definition (ADA, 2025).
- Disability is an umbrella term, covering impairments, activity limitations, and participation restrictions.
- An impairment is a problem in body function or structure; an activity limitation is a difficulty encountered by an individual in executing a task or action; while a participation restriction is a problem experienced by an individual in involvement in life situations.
- Disability is thus not just a health problem.
- It is a complex phenomenon that reflects the interaction between a person's body and the society in which they live.
- Overcoming the difficulties faced by people with disabilities requires interventions to remove environmental and social barriers.
Types of disabilities may include (CDC, 2025)
- Physical impairment
- Sensory impairment
- Cognitive impairment
- Intellectual impairment
- Neurodivergent issues
- Chronic disease
References
CDC Disability and health. (2025, April 2). Disability and Health Overview. https://www.cdc.gov/disability-and-health/about/index.html
Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. (CRPD). (n.d.). United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Social Inclusion. https://social.desa.un.org/issues/disability/crpd/committee-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities
International Day of Person with Disabilities (IDPD): United Nations (2025). Welcome to the United Nations. https://www.un.org/en/observances/day-of-persons-with-disabilities
Le, L. 2024. “I Am Human, Just Like You”: What Intersectional, Neuro-divergent Lived Experiences Bring to Accessibility Research. In The 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS ’24). October 27-30, 2024. St. John’s, NL, Canada. ACM, New York, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.1145/3663548.3675661
Lukersmith, S., Millington, M., & Salvador-Carulla, L. (2016). What Is case management? A scoping and mapping review. International Journal of Integrated Care, 16(4), 2. https://doi.org/10.5334/ijic.2477
The Global Disability Inclusion Report (GDIR): Accelerating disability inclusion in a diverse and changing world. (Mar 2025). Global Disability Summit. https://www.globaldisabilitysummit.org
What is the definition of disability under the ADA? (November 2025). ADA: National Network, information, guidance, and training on the Americans with Disabilities Act. https://adata.org/faq/what-definition-disability-under-ada
Bio: Pamayla E. Darbyshire has worked in nursing for more than 45 years. She is a graduate of the College of Doctoral Studies at the University of Phoenix, AZ, where she earned her Doctorate in Health Administration. She also holds a Master of Science in Nursing (Clinical Nurse Specialist), which she completed at Wichita State University, KS, in 2004, and she is a fellow with the University of Phoenix Center for Educational and Instructional Technology Research (CEITR). Dr. Darbyshire is a long-standing member of Sigma Theta Tau International Honour Society of Nursing. She also serves on the Case Management Society of America (CMSA) as a committee member tasked with policy and procedure updates. She has presented at multiple virtual conferences with global audiences. Her research interests include case management, chronic disease, neurodiversity, and the application of artificial intelligence in higher education. Department/Affiliation: College of Doctoral Studies, University of Phoenix, AZ, USA; CEITR fellow; post-doctoral researcher/author