Evidence briefs

30 results

How do we improve access to healthcare for people with disabilities?

Gaining access to healthcare is often a challenge for people with disabilities in low- and middle-income countries. Part of this has to do with a general dearth of healthcare services in low-resource settings. But part of this difficulty has to do with structural, attitudinal, economic and social barriers to participation and healthcare which affect people with disabilities more than people without disabilities. This lack of access to healthcare is a problem because, in general, people with disabilities may need to access healthcare more frequently than people without disabilities. Full and equitable access to quality healthcare is a human right, and an important imperative of the global agenda. This evidence brief summarises what we know about how to improve access to healthcare for people with disabilities in low-resource settings.

  • Health
Recommendations
  • Train generalist healthcare workers to provide healthcare to people with disabilities.
  • Train nurses or community health workers to provide specialist knowledge concerning disability within general healthcare settings.
  • Deliver preventative health checks for people with disabilities
  • Deliver anti-stigma interventions for mainstream healthcare workers.
  • Reasonable accommodations need to be made to make healthcare accessible to people with disabilities.
  • Coordinated care and multi-sectoral coordination of care for people with disabilities seems to have positive effects, but models which work in LMIC need to be explored

What are the key considerations for including people with disabilities in COVID-19 hygiene promotion programmes?

People with disabilities may be more likely to acquire COVID-19, and if infected may be more likely to experience serious symptoms, or die. Aside from those consequences of the pandemic related to morbidity and mortality, people with disabilities are often reliant on carers to aid with common daily tasks, and so social distancing measures may be unfeasible. Furthermore, safe water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services and facilities may be inaccessible to people with disabilities, and, in many settings, efforts to deliver services in a socially-distanced world have resulted in the roll out of digital or remote healthcare approaches which are sometimes not accessible or inclusive. One of the key interventions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been international attention, and improved funding, programming and media messaging in support of WASH. People with disabilities – who are most at risk of negative consequences of COVID-19 – most need access to such interventions. Yet, WASH access is considered to be one of the biggest challenges of daily life for many people with disabilities.

  • COVID-19
  • Health
SignificanceFeasibilityApplicabilityEquity
Recommendations
  • Programme designers should conduct a rapid review of WASH-related challenges
  • Disability-inclusion is a key consideration when designing COVID-19 WASH programmes
  • People with all types of disabilities must be engaged at all stages of COVID-19 programming
  • Assistance needs to be provided to people with disabilities and carers
  • All WASH facilities and services need to be designed with accessibility and inclusion in mind
  • Apply a gender lens to disability inclusive WASH COVID-19 responses
  • Train WASH practitioners and healthcare workers on disability inclusive WASH
  • Learn from and document experiences to inform disability inclusive programming and policies

Remaining questions

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