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HOW DID COVID-19 IMPACT PEOPLE LIVING WITH DISABILITIES?

Mental health was the most common type of COVID-19 impact


Source:  publicinsiderhealth.com / Nicole Turcheti, Assessment, Policy Development and Evaluation, October 24, 2022


The COVID-19 pandemic and efforts to slow its spread brought a number of social, economic and overall health impacts for communities throughout King County. Public Health – Seattle & King County, in partnership with the Disability Empowerment Center and Lifelong Aging And Disabilities Services, interviewed and listened to local people from disability communities to shed light on how these impacts were experienced by people living with disabilities in King County.


Disability is often a misunderstood term. It covers a spectrum, from being in a wheelchair to having chronic medical conditions, mental health, and sensory disabilities such as blindness, deafness, and autism. The types of disability are not mutually exclusive, and they can happen to anyone, at any age, and can sometimes occur overnight.

We interviewed 35 community members and held two listening sessions with the King County Disability Consortium, a group of service providers and members of the disability community. Some of the main takeaways are:

Coalition of disability groups

February 21, 2025
The chairperson of Disability Power Ireland, Maryam Madani, has criticised the lack of inclusion of disability groups in the preparation of a Green Paper by the Department of Social Protection, which proposes reforming the structure of long-term disability payments by establishing a three-tiered system. To continue reading this article, please click here > > > > > > >

People with disabilities protest

February 20, 2025
Once again, people with disabilities are protesting in Choluteca, demanding the fulfillment of unkept promises from the Honduran government. The affected individuals state that they urgently need wheelchairs, financial aid, food, medications, and other supplies. Despite submitting requests to the authorities, they have received no response. To continue reading this article, please click here > > > > > > >

Disability Rights Advocacy Fund

February 19, 2025
Catalina Devandas, Executive Director of the Disability Rights Fund and its sister organisation, the Disability Rights Advocacy Fund. The organisations mobilise resources using grantmaking, technical assistance, and advocacy strategies to support organisations of persons with disabilities in challenging ableism and other oppressions in advancing the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) To continue reading this article, please click here > > > > > > >

Embed disability justice in all our work

February 18, 2025
Rophiat Bello, who shared the work of the Foundation for a Just Society, a private foundation which funds local, national, regional, and global organizations and networks with an emphasis on four regions: Francophone West Africa, Mesoamerica, South and Southeast Asia, and the US Southeast. The Foundation advances the rights of women, girls, and LGBTQIA+ people and promotes gender and racial justice by ensuring those most affected by injustice have the resources they need to cultivate the leadership and solutions that transform our world. To continue reading this article, please click here > > > > > >

A strong global disability movement

February 17, 2025
Vice-Chair of the Disabled People’s Organisations Denmark (DPOD). This organisation of persons with disabilities works in close cooperation with foundations and other organisations that support disability-inclusive development. To continue reading this article, please click here > > > > > > > >

Foundation and disability-inclusive development

February 14, 2025
A Spanish non-governmental organisation created in 1988 as an instrument of cooperation and solidarity of Spanish blind individuals toward other groups of people with disabilities. In addition to the ONCE itself, the main organisations of people with disabilities in Spain are present in the Foundation through its Board of Trustees. The Spanish Committee of Representatives of People with Disabilities (CERMI) is part of the Board of Trustees. To continue reading this article, please click here > > > > >

Foundations and Disability Rights

February 13, 2025
We interviewed Catherine Hyde Townsend, Senior Advisor for Disability Inclusion at the Ford Foundation. The Ford Foundation supports organisations in America, Africa, The Middle East and Asia that tackle inequality and injustice. Attention: the Ford Foundation does not provide funding for advocacy and policy work within Europe, Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union or Russia. To continue reading this article, please click here > > > > > > > >

Guidelines for disability inclusion

February 12, 2025
The gathering, organized by the World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Disability Advocates Network, drew participants from the Anglican Church in South Africa, the Presbyterian Community of Kinshasa (a member of Church of Christ in Africa in the Democratic Republic of Congo), and the Nigerian Baptist Community. To continue reading this article, please click here > > > > > > >

Listening to Black Californians with Disabilities

February 11, 2025
Black Californians with disabilities are frequent users of the health care system. In the year before the survey, 94% of Black Californians with disabilities reported at least one visit with a doctor or health care provider, and 52% reported having five or more visits. To continue reading this article, please click here > > > > > > > > > >

Moments with assistive technology

February 10, 2025
Assistive products such as wheelchairs, glasses, hearing aids, artificial limbs and digital devices enable people to live independent lives – to work, study and enjoy the everyday moments that many of us take for granted.Yet, for many millions of people living in low- and middle-income countries, assistive technology is not available, accessible or affordable. To continue reading this article, please click here > > > > > > >
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