g., family, caregiver,��), and we did not ask for details about selleck compound who filled in the survey. The potential influence of this cannot be assessed but we assume parents, family or caregivers may have a different view of the respondent��s situation. Suggestions for future research We would like future research to focus on possible structural measures in order to decrease poverty and impaired health care access amongst disabled people. In particular we would recommend studies to investigate measures to diminish postponing health care visits. Furthermore some more research regarding medical costs for disabled people in Belgium is necessary. We suggest future research to include the duration of the disability (inborn or acquired disability) and the social background of the disabled respondents.
As in this study we focused on financial barriers concerning health care access, we would recommend researchers in this domain to explore other barriers in health care access, for example mobility. Conclusion Poverty, as well as impaired health care access, are problems that people with a disability in Flanders frequently have to face. Current research still lacks comprehensive information on the financial, social and medical situation for this target population. Our study hopes to encourage more researchers to engage in this kind of research and to include people with a disability more often in research on social inequalities and poverty. Future research should not only focus on the causes of the current fragile position of disabled people but should also look for both remediating and preventive solutions for these issues of poverty and financial health care access.
Endnote aThe Flemish Institute for People with a Disability defines ��disability�� as ��every long term and significant problem to participate of a person that is due to a combination of functional disorders or impairments to execute activities on the one hand, and contextual factors (individual and environmental) on the other. Competing interest The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Authors�� contribution MA: conception, design, acquisition of data, analysis and interpretation of data, drafting the manuscript. NA: conception, design, acquisition of data, analysis and interpretation of data, drafting the manuscript.
HJ: conception, design, acquisition of data, interpretation of data, revising the manuscript critically for important intellectual content. BV: conception, design, analysis and interpretation of data, revising the manuscript critically for important intellectual content. GVH: conception, design, interpretation of data, revising Cilengitide the manuscript critically for important intellectual content. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. Supplementary Material Additional file 1: Description of the population.