At risk but not adequately included: People with disabilities' experience of COVID-19 in Zambia

Queen E Seketi; J Anitha Menon; Charles Michelo; Lena Morgon Banks; Virginia Bond

doi:10.4102/ajod.v13i0.1448

At risk but not adequately included: People with disabilities' experience of COVID-19 in Zambia

Afr J Disabil. 2024 Nov 15:13:1448. doi: 10.4102/ajod.v13i0.1448. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Queen E Seketi¹, J Anitha Menon^{2

3}, Charles Michelo^{4

5}, Lena Morgon Banks⁶, Virginia Bond^{7

8}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia.
² Department of Psychology, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia.
³ School of Liberal Studies, University of Petroleum and Energy Sciences, New Delhi, India.
⁴ Global Health Institute, Nkwazi Research University, Lusaka, Zambia.
⁵ School of Health Sciences, Chreso University, Lusaka, Zambia.
⁶ International Centre for Evidence in Disability, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom.
⁷ Social Science Unit, Zambart, Lusaka, Zambia.
⁸ Department of Global Health and Development, Faculty of Public Health and Policy, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom.

Abstract

Background: COVID-19 had an impact on all sections of society, including people with disabilities.

Objectives: The authors aimed to explore the needs and experiences of people with disabilities in Zambia during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Method: In this hermeneutic phenomenological study, we used a semi-structured interview guide to collect data from a purposive and snowball sample of 40 people with disabilities and their caregivers. The participants were from 11 districts in 6 provinces in Zambia. The in-depth interviews were done between July 2022 and November 2022. Data were managed in NVivo and analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.

Results: The three themes included: (1) awareness and experience of public health measures on COVID-19 among people with disabilities; (2) experience of othering and stigmatisation as people with disability during the COVID-19 pandemic and (3) experience of COVID-19 symptoms and having COVID-19 among people with disabilities.

Conclusion: Interventions were largely unresponsive to the needs of people with disabilities, exacerbating the risk of exposure to infection. In future, adaptations like emergency risk communication in braille, audio and sign language interpretation in adapted communication formats should be made. Further studies are needed to quantify the gaps in access to health, explore policies and strategies to improve health outcomes for people with disabilities in LMICs like Zambia.

Contribution: The findings may contribute to the development and enhancement of policies and interventions responsive to the needs of people with disabilities in future pandemics in the Zambian context.

Keywords: COVID-19; communication; disability; disability inclusion; experiences; health inequities; health seeking behaviour; knowledge; risk; social determinants.

Grants and funding

Funding information This research was funded through a PhD studentship for Q.E.S., the first author, with the PENDA project (grant PO8073) funded by the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. L.M.B., the fourth author’s time is partially funded through the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AH/X009580/1).