Disability—a chronic omission in health equity that must be central to Canada’s post-pandemic recovery
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“We need to overhaul our definition of health equity in Canada to consistently include people with disabilities” (p. 350).
In this commentary, authors Downer and Rotenberg draw attention to the excess risks of COVID-19 infection and mortality experienced by people with disabilities in Canada and the lack of programmatic and policy responses to these inequities.
The authors name structural ableism at the root of these health inequities and inaction in medicine, health care and public health, and urgently call for health fields to incorporate disability into all health equity efforts.
Key tenets to address inequities experienced by people with disabilities
They outline four key tenets for addressing the stark health inequities experienced by people with disabilities in Canada:
- Expand accessible health care services for people with disabilities.
- Improve social determinants for people with disabilities, in particular housing, income supports and employment.
- Improve representation of and meaningful inclusion of people with disabilities in the health care and public health fields — “nothing about us, without us.”
- Incorporate disability as a health equity priority in pandemic and emergency preparedness policies and efforts.
Use this resource to
- Facilitate discussion about health inequities experienced by people with disabilities in Canada
- Guide action on key social determinants of health for people with disabilities
- Incorporate disability into health emergency preparedness efforts
- Meaningfully involve people living with disabilities in health equity efforts
Alignment with NCCDH work
This commentary calls for urgent action on key social determinants of health — including income — for persons with disabilities in Canada in response to severe, unaddressed COVID-19 inequities.
The NCCDH podcast episode “Disrupting for disability without poverty” (Mind the Disruption, Season 2, Episode 3) explores initiatives led by people with disabilities to eliminate disability poverty in Canada. It features the work of the Disability Without Poverty movement.
See other resources related to health equity for people with disability.
Reference
Downer, M. B., & Rotenberg, S. (2023). Disability—a chronic omission in health equity that must be central to Canada’s post-pandemic recovery. Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention in Canada, 43(7), 348–351. https://doi.org/10.24095/hpcdp.43.7.05
Tags: Disability, COVID-19, Pandemic, Academic Institution, Document, Commentary