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Impact of COVID-19 on services for people with disabilities and chronic health conditions
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Impact of COVID-19 on services for people with disabilities and chronic health conditions

Ariel E. Schwartz, Elizabeth G.S. Munsell, Elizabeth K. Schmidt, Cristina Colón-Semenza, Kelsi Carolan and Dena L. Gassner
Disability and health journal, v 14(3), 101090
01 Jul 2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dhjo.2021.101090
PMID: 33715986
Featured in Collection :   UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
url
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9760298View
Published, Version of Record (VoR)Open Access (License Unspecified),  Open

Abstract

Chronic disease COVID-19 Disability Employment Health services
People with disabilities and chronic health conditions rely on a range of services and supports to complete daily tasks, maintain health, and participate in the community. Preliminary research suggests the COVID-19 pandemic greatly disrupted these services and this population may be particularly susceptible to unemployment. Describe employment and service disruptions for individuals with disabilities and chronic health conditions during the onset of community-based spread of COVID-19 in the United States. Adults with disabilities and chronic health conditions completed online surveys to report employment and service changes via multiple choice and open-ended questions. Multiple choice questions were analyzed using descriptive statistics; open-ended responses were coded using content analysis. Participants (n = 109): 79.8% female, 88.1% white, 77.121% completed a 4-year college degree or greater, 61.4% had annual income ≥$45,000. Only 14.9% of survey respondents reported disruptions in employment. On average, 54.0% of service changes were due to discontinuation, including loss of physical therapy, job coaching, community organizations, transportation, and peer supports. Other changes included a shift to virtual service delivery and family members taking the role of service providers. Individuals with chronic health conditions and disabilities experienced service disruptions, even in a sample with considerably more economic, social, and educational privilege than the general population of people with chronic health conditions and disabilities in the United States. •People with health conditions and disabilities lost services during the pandemic.•This sample experienced job loss at a similar rate to the general population.•Representation of marginalized groups is critical to understand the pandemic’s impact.

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3 Record Views
41 citations in Web of Science
41 citations in Scopus

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UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#3 Good Health and Well-Being

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Health Care Sciences & Services
Health Policy & Services
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Rehabilitation
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