Drafts by Lina Abdul-Samad
This report is part of the ‘Disability under Siege’ research project. The project is led by Profe... more This report is part of the ‘Disability under Siege’ research project. The project is led by Professor Dina Kiwan from the University of Birmingham, and includes partners from Lebanon, Jordan, the
Gaza Strip, and other UK university personnel who joined the project at different stages.
The report is composed of two parts: first, a comparison of the 1999 Palestinian Disability Law (hereafter the 1999 law) with the new 2019 draft law (hereafter the new 2019 law and the new law), which is still being discussed and debated. Based on this comparison, the second part contains the results and discussion of the qualitative interviews we conducted with governmental and NGO personnel, other professionals with knowledge of disability and rights, including legal ones, persons with disabilities (PWDs) and a PWD parent. The interviews solicited their views regarding the old and new laws in general. Specifically, the interviews sought to increase our understanding of why the 1999 law was being revised, and if it was implemented in full or not; who prompted this revision; and opinions regarding the advantages and disadvantages of the new law. Based on our previous experience of having conducted a workshop with various groups on the subject of disability with mixed results, the Palestinian team opted to conduct qualitative interviews instead of a workshop to discuss the new draft law, so as to obtain results which allow for a better understanding of the context in which the draft law of 2019 is being produced, and the debates around the old and new laws. While conducting qualitative interviews has taken rather more time and effort than conducting a workshop, it was nevertheless very useful for obtaining a more nuanced understanding of the situation, and for mentoring Reem and Lina in
qualitative interview and analysis, synthesis, and in report writing.
Papers by Lina Abdul-Samad
Frontiers in Psychology, Oct 11, 2022
The Lancet, Jul 1, 2021
BACKGROUND Eating at fast food restaurants has become a worldwide phenomenon. To understand the f... more BACKGROUND Eating at fast food restaurants has become a worldwide phenomenon. To understand the factors that influence such behaviour is an important part of modern nutritional research. Social media may influence human eating behaviours in ways that have yet to be investigated. This study tests the possible relationship between two modern trends: social media usage and eating at fast food restaurants. FINDINGS A cross-sectional study was conducted in April, 2017. Undergraduate students aged 17-30 years in the West Bank, occupied Palestinian territory, completed a self-administered online Google Forms survey of 18 questions. Four universities were chosen to represent the four areas of interest; Birzeit University (central West Bank), Al-Quds University (East Jerusalem), An-Najah University (northern West Bank), and Hebron University (southern West Bank). Permission was sought from the administrators of the two most popular Facebook groups for each university (those with the highest number of members). After permission was granted, the survey was posted on each Facebook group. We used convenience sampling; students were requested to complete the survey on a voluntary basis. The surveys were closed when 150 students had filled forms or when the completion rate stagnated despite the survey being re-posted up to five times. The settings on Google Forms were adjusted so that every question had to be answered to complete the survey. The survey aimed to measure the types of social media that students used (use of Facebook services, and of the four other most popular social media platforms), the time spent on social media, and behaviour relating to eating at restaurants. A five-point Likert-type scale was used to record responses to the questions. Descriptive statistics were gathered, and Pearson's chi squared test was used to test for associations. Ethical approval for the project was obtained from Birzeit University, and informed written consent was obtained from all participants. FINDINGS In total, 399 students completed the survey; a completion rate of 67% (399 of 600). 26% (105 of 399) were male and 76% (294) were female. There were 150 participants at Birzeit University, 136 participants at Al-Quds University, 83 participants at An-Najah University, and 32 participants at Hebron University. Significant associations were found between using Facebook Messenger to call or message Facebook friends to invite them to eat at fast food restaurants, and uploading pictures of fast food meals (p=0·0010), and eating out at fast food restaurants (p=0·027). Furthermore, there was a significant association between time spent on Facebook and eating at restaurants (p=0·050). However, there was no significant association between time spent on Facebook and eating at fast food restaurants (p=0·21). INTERPRETATION The findings suggest that aspects of food-related lifestyle for students, such as eating at restaurants, are influenced by their use of Facebook as both a communication tool and as a visual platform. Whether social media can be used in interventions to promote healthy eating should be investigated. FUNDING None.
Frontiers in Psychology
BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has enormous negative effects on people’s lives. People with disa... more BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has enormous negative effects on people’s lives. People with disabilities (PWDs) who have been made vulnerable and who tend to face significant barriers in accessing public services are likely to be affected even more. This study aims to shed light on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on PWDs with special attention to their ability to access public services in the West Bank region of the occupied Palestinian territory.MethodsThis qualitative study was conducted between March 2021 and October 2021. The study was divided into two phases. The first phase consisted of interviews with people with different disabilities, while the second phase targeted policymakers and stakeholders in discussion of the results of the first phase. A total of 16 interviews with people with different types of disabilities (7 males, 9 females) were conducted via telephone. For the second phase, a total of 6 interviews were conducted with stakeholders most responsible for addr...
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Drafts by Lina Abdul-Samad
Gaza Strip, and other UK university personnel who joined the project at different stages.
The report is composed of two parts: first, a comparison of the 1999 Palestinian Disability Law (hereafter the 1999 law) with the new 2019 draft law (hereafter the new 2019 law and the new law), which is still being discussed and debated. Based on this comparison, the second part contains the results and discussion of the qualitative interviews we conducted with governmental and NGO personnel, other professionals with knowledge of disability and rights, including legal ones, persons with disabilities (PWDs) and a PWD parent. The interviews solicited their views regarding the old and new laws in general. Specifically, the interviews sought to increase our understanding of why the 1999 law was being revised, and if it was implemented in full or not; who prompted this revision; and opinions regarding the advantages and disadvantages of the new law. Based on our previous experience of having conducted a workshop with various groups on the subject of disability with mixed results, the Palestinian team opted to conduct qualitative interviews instead of a workshop to discuss the new draft law, so as to obtain results which allow for a better understanding of the context in which the draft law of 2019 is being produced, and the debates around the old and new laws. While conducting qualitative interviews has taken rather more time and effort than conducting a workshop, it was nevertheless very useful for obtaining a more nuanced understanding of the situation, and for mentoring Reem and Lina in
qualitative interview and analysis, synthesis, and in report writing.
Papers by Lina Abdul-Samad
Gaza Strip, and other UK university personnel who joined the project at different stages.
The report is composed of two parts: first, a comparison of the 1999 Palestinian Disability Law (hereafter the 1999 law) with the new 2019 draft law (hereafter the new 2019 law and the new law), which is still being discussed and debated. Based on this comparison, the second part contains the results and discussion of the qualitative interviews we conducted with governmental and NGO personnel, other professionals with knowledge of disability and rights, including legal ones, persons with disabilities (PWDs) and a PWD parent. The interviews solicited their views regarding the old and new laws in general. Specifically, the interviews sought to increase our understanding of why the 1999 law was being revised, and if it was implemented in full or not; who prompted this revision; and opinions regarding the advantages and disadvantages of the new law. Based on our previous experience of having conducted a workshop with various groups on the subject of disability with mixed results, the Palestinian team opted to conduct qualitative interviews instead of a workshop to discuss the new draft law, so as to obtain results which allow for a better understanding of the context in which the draft law of 2019 is being produced, and the debates around the old and new laws. While conducting qualitative interviews has taken rather more time and effort than conducting a workshop, it was nevertheless very useful for obtaining a more nuanced understanding of the situation, and for mentoring Reem and Lina in
qualitative interview and analysis, synthesis, and in report writing.