A Synthesis of Findings from ‘Rapid Assessments’ of Disability and the COVID-19 Pandemic: Implications for Response and Disability-Inclusive Data Collection

Tessa Hillgrove, Jen Blyth, Felix Kiefel-Johnson and Wesley Pryor
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Tessa Hillgrove: CBM Inclusion Advisory Group, Box Hill, Melbourne, VIC 3128, Australia
Jen Blyth: CBM Inclusion Advisory Group, Box Hill, Melbourne, VIC 3128, Australia
Felix Kiefel-Johnson: Nossal Institute for Global Health, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia
Wesley Pryor: Nossal Institute for Global Health, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 18, 1-18

Abstract: Introduction: People with disabilities are disproportionately impacted by disasters, including health emergencies, and responses are not always inclusive or accessible. Disability-inclusive response and recovery efforts require rapid, contextually relevant data, but little was known about either the experience of people with disabilities in the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, or how rapid needs assessments were conducted. Methods: We reviewed the available results from rapid assessments of impacts of COVID-19 on people with disabilities in low- and middle-income countries in Asia and the Pacific. Rapid assessment methods and questions were examined to describe the current approaches and synthesise results. Results: Seventeen surveys met the inclusion criteria. The findings suggest that people with disabilities experienced less access to health, education, and social services and increased violence. The most rapid assessments were conducted by or with disabled person’s organisations (DPOs). The rapid assessment methods were varied, resulting in heterogeneous data between contexts. Efforts to standardise data collection in disability surveys are not reflected in practice. Conclusions: Persons with disabilities were disproportionately impacted by the ‘first wave’ of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite complex implementation challenges and methodological limitations, persons with disabilities have led efforts to provide evidence to inform disability-inclusive pandemic responses.

Keywords: disability inclusion; inclusive development; COVID-19; disability data (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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