Determinants of Access to Social Care Services for Children with Disabilities in Saudi Arabia: A Statistical Analysis and Policy Recommendations

<p xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" class="first" dir="auto" id="d11208941e164">Social care services play a crucial role in promoting the inclusion of children with disabilities. This study analyzes the factors affecting access to social care services for children with disabilities in Saudi Arabia, focusing on the gaps that exist despite the expansion of service provision. The analysis used 2022 census and ministry data with logistic regression to identify key determinants. The findings indicate that 76.5% of children with disabilities benefited from at least one form of social care, with financial support being the most common service (63.2%). Significant disparities were observed across administrative regions, and access to services was found to be significantly influenced by age, type of disability, and school enrollment status. The study recommends the need to expand the geographical coverage of social services to ensure equal opportunities for different groups, the need to enhance awareness of the availability of services, and the need to conduct a periodic assessment of the level of satisfaction with the services provided. </p>

King Salman Center for Disability Research

<p>"Science Benefiting People"<br />The mission of the King Salman Center for Disability Research is to foster a global platform for addressing disability through research and empowerment. Its content will now be published alongside 95+ million publications on ScienceOpen, allowing people to access cutting-edge research in just a few clicks.</p>

Integrating People with Disabilities into Society: From Education to Work in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

<p xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" class="first" dir="auto" id="d11197368e135">Disability is one of the important topics that most countries in the world, including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, are concerned about. Disability encompasses social and economic dimensions beyond statistical monitoring. The aim of this study is to shed light on the increase in the integration of people with disabilities into society, especially in the education and labor market sectors. This is done by identifying the neediest groups with disabilities and determining the type of needs required in various services, in addition to studying the size of disparities in obtaining services according to different characteristics. This is done based on the descriptive analytical method using many nonparametric tests to analyze the data published on the Open Data Portal. The results of the analysis of the demographic characteristics of people with disabilities showed that disability rates among women (aged 60 years and older) are the highest compared to men of the same age. In addition to the existence of disparities in the adequacy of infrastructure and the quality of education according to the regions of the Kingdom, there is a significant difference in the student–teacher ratio according to the regions (χ ² = 39.593, <i>P</i> < 0.001), which indicates that the ratios of students to teachers are not equal between regions, but rather vary significantly. The percentage of male trainees is higher than that of female trainees. There is also an inverse correlation between the duration of training and the obtaining of a job, and there is a weak inverse correlation between the duration of training and the age of the trainee. In addition, there is a disparity in the period required to qualify for the labor market between men and women. This requires the development of specialized policies to address these gaps, for example, improving teacher distribution, increasing the suitability of school infrastructure, and strengthening partnerships between educational institutions and the labor market, in addition to integrating people with disabilities and employers into the design of rehabilitation programs. </p>

Scalable flexographic printing of graphite/carbon dot nanobiosensors for non-faradaic electrochemical quantification of IL-8

King Salman Center for Disability Research - Sponsored Research Output

<p>This is a collection for all output sponsored by the King Salman Center for Disability Research</p>

Telemedicine Use and Usability for People with Disabilities in Saudi Arabia: Barriers and Enablers from Healthcare Providers’ Perspectives

<p xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" class="first" dir="auto" id="d20347e262">Despite the growing implementation of telemedicine globally, few studies have focused on its usability with individuals with disabilities. Further, while several studies have addressed general telemedicine adoption in Saudi Arabia, few have specifically examined healthcare providers’ perspectives of telemedicine usability and its use and implementation challenges for this population. This study evaluates telemedicine usability for people with disabilities using provider-level data, offering practical insights to inform inclusive digital health policies and strategies. A cross-sectional survey of 380 healthcare providers across different healthcare facilities was conducted between October 2024 and March 2025 using a structured questionnaire derived from the original Telehealth Usability Questionnaire (TUQ) and Client Satisfaction Questionnaire (CSQ-8). Multivariate linear regression was applied to identify the predictors of telemedicine usability. Only 46.84% of the healthcare providers reported using telemedicine with individuals with disabilities. The overall TUQ scores indicated moderate usability. The CSQ-8 score was a strong positive predictor of telemedicine usability [β = 0.88, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.75-1.01, <i>P</i> < 0.001]. Providers with access to improved telehealth resources reported significantly higher usability (β = 2.35, 95% CI 0.04-4.66, <i>P</i> = 0.046), while those reporting a need for enhanced training had lower usability scores (β = −2.40, <i>P</i> = 0.061). Common barriers included internet connectivity (74%), inadequate tools (63%), and a lack of training (54%). Healthcare providers showed moderate usability of using telemedicine services with individuals with disabilities as well as moderate satisfaction with such services. This study identifies critical gaps in infrastructure, training, and system readiness that hinder effective digital care delivery for this population. Its novel contribution lies in its provider-focused, disability-specific evaluation of telemedicine in the Saudi healthcare context, offering actionable recommendations to support equitable and inclusive digital health transformation. </p>

Enhancing Accessibility for Saudi Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Audiences: Sound Representation in SDH Subtitling of Saudi Series

<p xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" class="first" dir="auto" id="d20102e157">Subtitling for deaf and hard-of-hearing audiences is an accessibility mode of audiovisual translation that aims to enhance the experience of its target audiences by rendering auditory codes in a written form. Naturally, this entails representing sound effects in the caption through intersemiotic translation. Verbalizing these sounds may include various elements which can either represent the sounds directly or indirectly. This paper aims to examine the degree to which sounds are represented in the Arabic captions of Saudi works. The analysis revealed that a substantial proportion of captions merely described the action that produced the sound rather than conveying sonic qualities. Other captions were more informative by containing sound descriptors, information on frequency, distance, sound source, or a combination of these elements. The study recommends that further guidelines be developed to improve the representation of sound effects in captions, especially in the Arabic language. </p>

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Enhancing Cryptographic Solutions for Resource-Constrained RFID Assistive Devices: Implementing a Resource-Efficient Field Montgomery Multiplier

<p xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" class="first" dir="auto" id="d14696201e66">Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) assistive systems, which integrate RFID devices with IoT technologies, are vital for enhancing the independence, mobility, and safety of individuals with disabilities. These systems enable applications such as RFID navigation for blind users and RFID-enabled canes that provide real-time location data. Central to these systems are resource-constrained RFID devices that rely on RFID tags to collect and transmit data, but their limited computational capabilities make them vulnerable to cyberattacks, jeopardizing user safety and privacy. Implementing the Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) algorithm is essential to mitigate these risks; however, its high computational complexity exceeds the capabilities of these devices. The fundamental operation of ECC is finite field multiplication, which is crucial for securing data. Optimizing this operation allows ECC computations to be executed without overloading the devices’ limited resources. Traditional multiplication designs are often unsuitable for such devices due to their excessive area and energy requirements. Therefore, this work tackles these challenges by proposing an efficient and compact field multiplier design optimized for the Montgomery multiplication algorithm, a widely used method in cryptographic applications. The proposed design significantly reduces both space and energy consumption while maintaining computational performance, making it well-suited for resource-constrained environments. ASIC synthesis results demonstrate substantial improvements in key metrics, including area, power consumption, Power-Delay Product (PDP), and Area-Delay Product (ADP), highlighting the multiplier’s efficiency and practicality. This innovation enables the implementation of ECC on RFID assistive devices, enhancing their security and reliability, thereby allowing individuals with disabilities to engage with assistive technologies more safely and confidently. </p>

King Salman Center for Disability Research - Sponsored Research Output

<p>This is a collection for all output sponsored by the King Salman Center for Disability Research</p>