COVID-19 and Disability Services in Upstate New York: A Survey of Disability Organizations

Time: 10:55 AM - 11:40 AM, June 21

Introduction

People with disability, who represent 1 in 4 adults in the U.S., experience a number of health disparities. These disparities have been exacerbated by the recent SARS-CoV-2 pandemic (COVID-19). Individuals with disability may rely on services from organizations for support, and anecdotal evidence suggests that these services have been interrupted by COVID-19. The purpose of this study was to understand changes in service provision in a number of categories, changes in organizational priorities related to COVID-19, and the information needs of New York State (NYS) disability organizations. We hypothesized that disability services would decrease and that more services would be offered remotely during COVID-19 compared to prior to COVID-19.

Methods

We conducted a survey of NYS disability organizations, contacting individuals at those organizations via phone, email, and listserv. The survey was developed by the research team and included questions about services offered prior to COVID-19 versus during COVID-19, as well as additional precautions, health information, and organizational priorities. Disability services assessed in the survey included advocacy, caregiver, education, emergency/crisis services, health promotion programing, mental health, and recreational services, among others. The survey was conducted from August to December 2020. Descriptive analyses and paired sample t-test were conducted to compare service provision prior to and during COVID-19. Significance was set a priori at an alpha level of 0.05.

Results

Fifty-three respondent completed the survey from twenty-two counties in NYS. Organizations represented were of varied size and served a broad range of populations. The majority of organizations indicated that staff and clients had been impacted by COVID-19 positive cases. Overall, there were significantly fewer disability services offered during COVID-19 compared to prior to COVID-19. In addition, there was a significant change to remote disability services during COVID-19. Several disability services (health promotion, emergency/crisis, and recreational services) were no longer offered by organizations during COVID-19 that had been offered previously, while at the same time some services were initiated by organizations during the pandemic.

Discussion/Conclusions

As hypothesized, disability services decreased during COVID-19, and more services were offered remotely. The resulting impact of this change on health disparities experienced by people with disability is not yet clear, and these results represent a valuable starting point for understanding that impact. In addition, the finding that some services were no longer offered, while others were initiated, warrants further investigation. Further research on this topic utilizing clear definitions and investigating the changes in specific services would be valuable, especially related to the impact for people with disability in rural areas and other instances where alternatives might not be available.