Health providers’ understanding of disability determines how disabled people are
treated, and hence it is imperative to address conceptualisations of disability, as
this will contribute to better opportunities and realisation of human rights for disabled
people. This article will use data from a qualitative study exploring conceptualisations
of disability by 22 health service providers from the total health care
system in Malawi, including the professional sector (e.g. medical doctors and
nurses) and the folk sector (healers and indigenous practices). We will discuss
how these perceptions influence the lives of disabled people, using the case of a
health service user with physical and speech impairment as an example. Our data
show that health providers largely conceptualise disability according to the
medical model for disability, contributing to the exclusion of disabled people.
The bio-psycho-social model for disability, largely absent as an explanatory
model for disability among our informants, is the most inclusive and rights based.