Anecdotal evidence suggests that non-communicable diseases (NCDs) contribute substantially to mortality, morbidity and disability in Ghana. Nonetheless, no data are presently available on Ghanaians with disability from major NCDs, such as hypertension, diabetes and stroke. Using data from the 2007/2008 Ghana World Health Organization Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE) and applying ordinary least squares techniques, the prevalence of and associations between activity limitations and participation restrictions in Ghanaians with NCDs are examined in the present study. The results show stroke is the major contributor to activity limitations and participation restrictions among the Ghanaian population with NCDs. The study results further revealed that respondents with higher education reported high levels of disability compared to those with no education. The results suggest that functioning can be restored by providing assistive technologies, such as wheelchairs, prosthetic limbs, walking aids, etc., that can enhance participation of persons with disability in society.

Based on data from the 2002 General Social Survey, this research presents a global portrait of unmet needs for home care services among Canadians aged 65 and over. It shows that 26.8% of seniors need assistance, accounting for approximately 1,024,000 individuals. Among these, just over 180,000 (17.7%) had at least one unmet need. In nearly half the cases, elderly with unmet needs receive insufficient support for 2 activities or more. Furthermore, house cleaning, house maintenance and outdoor work are the three activities with the highest prevalence of unmet needs. Finally, the younger seniors, those who require assistance for 3 or 4 activities and those living in Quebec and British Columbia are most likely to have unmet needs.

The aim of this study was to compare the accuracy of performance predictions in experimental tasks with patients' awareness of activity limitations. Participants were 24 patients with brain injuries (i.e., traumatic brain injury and cerebrovascular disorders) and 22 patients with orthopedic disorders. Prediction of performance was examined in a memory task (word list learning) and a motor task (finger tapping). Awareness of activity limitations was measured by comparing patients' self-ratings and staff ratings in the Patient Competency Rating Scale (PCRS). Results for the PCRS showed that patients with orthopedic disorders underestimated and patients with brain injuries (i.e., patients with TBI) overestimated their level of functioning in the total scale and the social/emotional subscale in comparison to staff ratings. Both patient groups agreed with staff ratings in physical/basic self-care items. In the predicted performance tasks a similar pattern could be observed: None of the groups showed an overestimation of performance in the motor task, whereas patients with brain injuries overestimated their competency in the memory task. However, the agreement between both awareness measures (PCRS, predicted performance) was only low, which indicates that they might measure different aspects or levels of self-awareness. (JINS, 2004, 10, 190–199.)