A new systematic review conducted by researchers at the Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER) examines the evidence on interventions to promote social inclusion for people with disabilities in high-income countries. Published in BMJ Open, the study reviewed 50 quantitative evaluation studies involving 10,904 participants and found that the evidence is uneven: 40% reported significant positive effects, 28% found no effect, and 32% showed mixed outcomes.
The review, authored by LISER researcher Manon Schroeder, alongside Germain Weber (University of Vienna) and LISER's Marc Suhrcke (also affiliated with the University of York), found that positive effects were most common in interventions targeting social and communication skills, while broader community participation outcomes were less consistently improved. The authors argue this reflects a deeper issue: most interventions focus on helping individuals adapt, while far fewer address the environmental, relational and structural barriers that determine whether people can truly participate in society.
Manon Schroeder, lead author, said: " There are promising interventions, but they're concentrated in specific areas. Inclusion is much harder to change when wider structural barriers remain in place."
Marc Suhrcke, co-author and health economist at LISER, added: " Participation and social inclusion are closely linked to wellbeing, opportunity and quality of life. If we want meaningful inclusion, we need strategies that go beyond the individual and also change the environments people live, learn and work "
The authors highlight the importance of multilevel approaches that combine individual support with efforts to remove relational and structural barriers, as the broader challenge of building truly inclusive communities remains under-addressed.
The article is published open access in BMJ Open: "Effectiveness of interventions to promote social inclusion of people with disabilities in high-income countries: a systematic review of quantitative evaluation studies."
