People with Disabilities and the Pandemic

By Allison Donald

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread there have been measures put in place to improve outcomes for people living with disabilities. People with disabilities have experienced disproportionate impacts as a result of COVID-19 due to limitations and disruptions to access critical programs and services such as healthcare (including COVID-19 testing a treatment), transportation, employment, housing and sheltering, education, mental health and crisis counseling, technology, and communication.The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) continues to collaborate with federal agency partners and national disability stakeholder organizations to identify, monitor, and address concerns for people with disabilities as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

FEMA has outlined the following best practices to assist people with disabilities in getting the proper services and supports during the pandemic and how organizations can provide accommodations in the areas of information and communication, healthcare technology, and testing.  -Medical students created a plain language illustrated guide on COVID-19 to help individuals with intellectual disabilities understand what COVID-19 is and what to do if a person is experiencing symptoms.-Although mobile applications may not be accessible to all people with disabilities, crowdsourced assistance mobile applications allow people who are blind or have low vision to shop without the help of store employees to identify products and read labels. Some smartphone apps can also read printed text aloud to identify products.

Some of the hardest hit areas during the pandemic have nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and group homes.  FEMA has also provided guidance to address certain concerns about people with disabilities and the supports provided to them by their aids.-While instituting necessary precautions and limiting visitation, medical facilities should consider allowing caregivers to accompany patients with disabilities to provide support and assist with communication.

We are more reliant on technology now but for our consumers and other  People with disabilities may experience challenges navigating websites given that many eCommerce sites are not fully accessible.-Governments should ensure websites with emergency-related information are accessible to people with disabilities, by using captioned videos and alternative tags for images to increase readability by those who use screen readers and other assistive technologies. See the Department of Justice’s guidance on technical assistance on accessible technology.

The most critical part of the pandemic has to be access to testing and for people with disabilities it is imperative due to the the presence of underlying conditions. -People with disabilities may not be able to access COVID-19 testing sites which include, but are not limited to, community-based drive-through testing sites. Drive-through testing is especially inaccessible in urban areas, where fewer people have access to cars.

If you are in need of free Covid testing you can visit your local CVS, Walgreens, or Church Health Centers in Memphis.  MCIL is working to meet the need of our consumers by meeting virtually and keeping our community informed via phone about the resources and supports that are available at this time.

If you have any questions please visit https://www.fema.org for further guidance.