Evidence briefs

30 results

How can the health of people with disabilities in humanitarian camps be supported during the COVID-19 pandemic?

More than 10% of the world’s 35 million displaced people are people with disabilities. People with disabilities and their families are at significant risk of discrimination, stigma, violence, and marginalisation, and get little access to adequate services in humanitarian camps. Disabled people are frequently sidelined during health sector planning in humanitarian camps, and healthcare access is a particular challenge. The COVID-19 pandemic, and measures necessary for its containment, pose a particular threat and challenge in humanitarian settings. Containment measures such as mass ‘stay-at-home' orders, social distancing, self-isolation and quarantine are often unsuitable for, or difficult to implement in, camp settings. People in humanitarian camps, then, need special consideration within the COVID-19 response. However, among people in humanitarian camps, people with disabilities are particularly vulnerable to being left behind or overlooked in COVID-19 planning and programming. Their double vulnerability as refugees and disabled people warrants special consideration.

  • Health
  • COVID-19
SignificanceFeasibilityApplicabilityEquity
Recommendations
  • Learn from prior research on barriers faced by people with disabilities in humanitarian camps, to inform an inclusive COVID-19 response
  • Ensure the continuity of basic and specialised services for people with disabilities in camps.
  • Women and children with disabilities need specific consideration during the COVID-19 response in camps.
  • Mainstream recommendations for the containment of COVID-19 in camps need to be adapted to be disability inclusive.
  • A targeted approach “targeted shielding”, could ensure that people with disabilities are specifically catered for in containment measures.

¿Cómo apoyar la salud mental y el bienestar durante la pandemia del COVID-19?

La pregunta y el problema

Los síntomas de una salud mental insuficiente son comunes durante un brote generalizado de una enfermedad infecciosa. En epidemias recientes como la crisis el Ébola y del SARS-CoV-1 se han reportado altos casos de depresión, ansiedad y de trastorno de estrés post-traumático (TEPT). Los síntomas elevados de una mala salud mental no están limitados a pacientes, sino que también son vistos en trabajadores de la salud, familiares y en la población en general. Los primeros indicios de evidencia provenientes de la pandemia del Covid-19 demuestran altos índices de una salud mental insuficiente y por lo tanto, la necesidad de proveer un servicio de salud mental. Este Informe de Evidencia resume la evidencia sobre apoyo a la salud mental durante la Covid-19 y otras pandemias recientes, informando sobre las normas y prácticas durante esta crisis.

  • Health
  • COVID-19
SignificanceFeasibilityApplicabilityEquity
Recommendations
  • Recomendación #1: Un enfoque multisectorial es necesario para afrontar los problemas de salud mental
  • Recomendación #2: La provisión de servicio debe ser sostenible y realizable.
  • Recomendación #3: Las intervenciones deben de ajustarse a la situación actual basándose en la evidencia existente y evaluando enfoques innovadores.
  • Recomendación #4: Más investigación es requerida para identificar cuál la provisión de servicios más adecuada y eficaz.
  • Recomendación #5: Fortalecer las estrategias de comunicación y la entrega de información para apoyar el bienestar de todos.

How can we ensure the safety and wellbeing of children with disabilities during humanitarian crises?

The United Nations estimates that nearly 79 million people around the world have been displaced from their homes as a result of humanitarian crises since 2018 (e.g., disaster, war, political unrest). Approximately 40% of those displaced are children. Among this group, children with disabilities are especially susceptible to the increased risk of violence, neglect, and long-term psychosocial distress during humanitarian crises. Unreliable and limited scoping, research, inadequate priority-setting and varying definitions of disability for this vulnerable group make it challenging to ascertain the exact proportion of children with disabilities among the world’s refugee population. Methods to ensure the safety and wellbeing of children with disabilities during humanitarian crises is paramount to enhancing post-crisis recovery, development and capacity-building for future resilience. Growing evidence highlights that investing in inclusive child protection mechanisms, educational and disaster risk reduction programmes is key to improving health and social outcomes for children with disabilities during humanitarian crises.

  • Health
  • Cross-cutting
SignificanceFeasibilityApplicabilityEquity
Recommendations
  • Recommendation #1: Improve data collection & registration for children with disabilities in humanitarian settings
  • Recommendation #2: Incorporate an inclusive & multi-faceted MHPSS approach to support a continuum of wellbeing
  • Recommendation #3: Actively encourage the contribution of children with disabilities towards disability-inclusive disaster risk reduction & child protection mechanisms
  • Recommendation #4: Improve coordination and planning to improve access to basic needs & safety
  • Recommendation #5: Strengthen education in emergency settings for children with disabilities to better cope and respond to crises

¿Cuáles son las consideraciones claves para incluir a las personas con discapacidades en los programas para la promoción de la higiene de la pandemia del COVID-19?

La pregunta y el problema

Las personas con discapacidades pueden tener más probabilidades de adquirir COVID-19 y, si se infectan, pueden tener más probabilidades de experimentar síntomas graves o morir. Aparte de las consecuencias de la pandemia relacionadas con la morbilidad y la mortalidad, las personas con discapacidad suelen depender de cuidadores para que les ayuden en tareas cotidianas, por lo que medidas de distanciamiento social pueden resultar imposibles. Además, los servicios e instalaciones de agua potable, saneamiento e higiene (WASH, por sus siglas en inglés) pueden ser inaccesibles para las personas con discapacidades y, en muchos entornos, los esfuerzos para brindar servicios socialmente distanciados han dado como resultado el despliegue de enfoques de atención médica digital o remota que a veces no son accesibles o inclusivos. Una de las intervenciones clave en respuesta a la pandemia del COVID-19 ha sido la atención internacional y la mejora de la financiación, la programación y los mensajes de los medios en apoyo de WASH. Las personas con discapacidades, que corren mayor riesgo de sufrir las consecuencias negativas del COVID-19, necesitan en su mayoría acceso a tales intervenciones. Sin embargo, el acceso a WASH se considera uno de los mayores desafíos de la vida diaria para muchas personas con discapacidad.

  • COVID-19
  • Health
SignificanceFeasibilityApplicabilityEquity
Recommendations
  • Recomendación #1: Los diseñadores del programa deben realizar una revisión rápida de los desafíos relacionados con WASH (agua, saneamiento e higiene) que experimentan las personas con discapacidades y sus cuidadores durante el COVID-19.
  • Recomendación #2: La inclusión de la discapacidad debe ser una consideración clave al diseñar programas de respuesta al COVID-19, y las medidas de inclusión deben contar con todos los recursos necesarios.
  • Recomendación #3: Las personas con todo tipo de discapacidades deben participar en todas las etapas de programación sobre COVID-19, desde la planificación hasta la evaluación.
  • Recomendación #4: Se debe brindar asistencia a las personas con discapacidad y cuidadores para que puedan llevar a cabo las medidas preventivas y de protección del COVID-19.
  • Recomendación #5: Todas las instalaciones y servicios de WASH, y ejecución del programa COVID-19 deben diseñarse teniendo en cuenta la accesibilidad y la inclusión.
  • Recomendación #6: Es necesario aplicar una perspectiva de género a las respuestas WASH COVID-19 para que sean inclusivas
  • Recomendación #7: Capacitar a los profesionales de WASH y trabajadores de la salud en WASH que incluya a las personas con discapacidad.
  • Recomendación #8: Aprender de otras epidemias y documentar las experiencias para informar a los programas y políticas para que incluyan la discapacidad.

What are the most effective strategies for strengthening health systems for disability inclusive development?

Health system strengthening refers to initiatives that improve one or more functions of health systems, leading to better health. There is a large body of evidence on what works to strengthen health systems in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), much of which is aligned to the World Health Organization (WHO) health system building blocks (service delivery; health workforce; information; medical products, vaccines and technologies; financing; and leadership/governance). Despite the fact that some people with disabilities have additional health needs, and many face additional barriers to accessing healthcare, inclusion of people with disabilities is largely missing from this evidence base.5 Separately, a smaller evidence base exists on increasing the effectiveness of specific health-related services targeting people with disabilities, such as health-related Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR), rehabilitation services more broadly, and mental health services. This second evidence base is less closely aligned to the building blocks. Reviewing these outputs in parallel goes some way towards identifying effective strategies for strengthening health systems for disability inclusive development.

  • Health
SignificanceFeasibilityApplicabilityEquity
Recommendations
  • Disaggregate evidence on what works in health system strengthening by disability status
  • Produce more rigorous evidence on what works in strengthening disability-focused services
  • Integrate relevant CBR activities, and Rehabilitation Services into general health policy and sector strengthening activities
  • Involve people with disabilities in participatory governance of health systems at all levels

Remaining questions

There are no remaining questions related to this theme