Financial Capability and Asset Building (FCAB) for Persons with Disabilities in Ghana: The Role of Social Workers

Background: Persons with disabilities (PWDs) are among the most vulnerable groups in the world, and they face many problems, including high poverty levels. Due to the discrimination and other barriers that PWDs in developing countries such as Ghana face, many of them lack the opportunity to engage in economic opportunities through which they can earn income to fend for themselves. PWD’s financial situation are futher , considering that many are shunned by individuals, families, and to some extent governments through their lackluster attitude towards the implementation of pro-disability laws, policies, and programs. The lack of employment opportunities for PWDs in Ghana is exacerbated by their limited employability, with inadequate rehabilitation, training, and education programs for them to acquire employable skills. In light of this, many PWDs are poor, financially excluded, financially illiterate, and lack opportunities to acquire financial resources. The severity of poverty on them is seen in its cascading effect on their lives. Consequently, many are left in vulnerable situations with limited resilience to help themselves. There is, therefore, urgency for the implementation of pragmatic and robust interventions to address the financial vulnerabilities that PWDs face.

Methods: Guided by the financial capability framework, the present paper argues that the implementation of programs based on financial capability and asset building (FCAB) has the potential of improving the financial well-being of PWDs by promoting their financial inclusion and literacy.

Conclusions: Against the backdrop that social workers play key roles in helping PWDs and other vulnerable groups to engender their socioeconomic functioning, their expertise in FCAB and its infusion in interventions would be critical to their ability to achieve their mandate of helping their clients with disabilities. They could work as advocates, mobilizers, facilitators, and educators in FCAB interventions as they seek to break the cycle of poverty among PWDs. Additionally, the paper demonstrates that FCAB can be adopted by social workers in various practice realms (micro, mezzo, and macro practice) to enhance the resilience of vulnerable people including PWDs.