DISABILITY - ASSISTANCE

It is important to understand the type and amount of assistance people with disability need in order to be able to provide appropriate support. This information helps the planning and funding of services to support people with disability to be as independent as possible and to participate more fully in society.

In 2012, 2.4 million people with disability living in households (60%) needed assistance with at least one broad area of activity. Similar to previous surveys, assistance was most likely to be needed with health care (29%) or property maintenance (29%), while less likely to be needed with communication (6.8%) or meal preparation (8.7%). (Table 14)

People with a profound or severe core activity limitation were most likely to need assistance with mobility tasks (86% and 69%, respectively), while those reporting a schooling or employment restriction were most likely to need assistance with cognitive or emotional tasks (36%), such as problem solving or making friends. (Table 14)

A person who needs assistance with an activity may or may not receive the help they require. Though most people needing assistance received at least some help (98%) more than one third reported that they did not receive the full amount of assistance they required (39% or almost one million people). This was an increase from 2009 when 36% of people with disability indicated that they did not receive all the assistance they needed. Generally, people were less likely to report their needs as being fully met as the severity of their limitation increased. For example, less than half (47%) of people with a profound core activity limitation reported their needs as fully met compared to 61% for all people with disability. This also represented a decrease from 2009 when 53% of people with a profound core activity limitation reported that their needs were fully met. (Table 14 and Graph 4)

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