{"id":4952,"date":"2020-06-26T15:37:44","date_gmt":"2020-06-26T15:37:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/?p=4905"},"modified":"2020-11-16T11:27:09","modified_gmt":"2020-11-16T16:27:09","slug":"webcast-archive-the-tally-covid-19-and-people-with-disabilities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/2020\/06\/webcast-archive-the-tally-covid-19-and-people-with-disabilities\/","title":{"rendered":"Webcast Archive: The tally: COVID-19 and people with disabilities"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>During the COVID-19 pandemic, we will not present our webcast, due to technical problems caused by heavy internet usage. However we are providing the text as a bulletin to offer up-to-date information about assisted suicide, euthanasia and ending-of-life practices for the disability community.<\/p>\n<p><b>THE TALLY: COVID-19 AND PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The COVID-19 Pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on people with disabilities and people of colour.\u00a0 This is partly due to the lower value placed on the lives of disabled people and racial and ethnic minorities.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The highest casualty rates have occurred in <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cihi.ca\/sites\/default\/files\/document\/covid-19-rapid-response-long-term-care-snapshot-en.pdf?emktg_lang=en&amp;emktg_order=1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">nursing homes<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, prisons, and other institutions:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Among residents (predominantly people with disabilities, regardless of age);<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And workers (especially women and racial and ethnic minorities).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">People who work in low-wage jobs (Personal Support Workers, farm workers, and meat packing) are overrepresented among those infected because of cramped and unsafe living and working conditions, and lack of infection-control procedures or protective equipment.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Prisons have become a common custodial care setting for <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.ca\/books?hl=en&amp;lr=&amp;id=YttCBAAAQBAJ&amp;oi=fnd&amp;pg=PP1&amp;dq=disability+prison+canada&amp;ots=0y-s_dbGuk&amp;sig=t9r7eWK3lrCSzrt7N7k1epUL2BE#v=onepage&amp;q=disability%20prison%20canada&amp;f=false\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">people with disabilities<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and black, brown and indigenous people are <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.researchgate.net\/publication\/274314275_Race_Crime_and_Criminal_Justice_in_Canada\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">over-represented in the prison population<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Disproportionate death rates among racial and ethnic minorities.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Quarantine procedures have disrupted home-based services.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Services that enable people with disabilities to live in the community (like home delivery of groceries and medications) often charge a premium or are overwhelmed and unavailable.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Disabled people are mostly excluded from policy-making in response to the pandemic.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The federal government appointed a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.canada.ca\/en\/employment-social-development\/news\/2020\/04\/statement-by-minister-qualtrough-on-canadas-disability-inclusive-approach-to-its-covid-19-pandemic-response.html?fbclid=IwAR2nfNHaVMAXpefWfG7STG_o3q3XPDvO1AOLmOEtxB6h-K38JWByWujb4yE\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">COVID-19 Disability Advisory Group<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to provide policy guidance on issues related to the pandemic.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">None of the provinces has followed suit.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The pandemic has both highlighted and worsened the problems of warehousing people in institutions that we\u2019ve known about for 60 years, since the exposure of conditions at the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thestar.com\/news\/insight\/2013\/09\/20\/huronia_pierre_berton_warned_us_50_years_ago.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Huronia Regional Centre<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in Orillia, Ontario in 1960.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Governments cling to this obsolete policy, promising to build new nursing homes rather than shifting funds toward self-directed community-based care.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The lack of community-living options violates article 19 of the U.N. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.un.org\/disabilities\/documents\/convention\/convoptprot-e.pdf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An inadequate number of facility inspectors means specific problems go undetected for years.\u00a0 Political foot-dragging means the problems, repeatedly exposed in studies and reports, are met with hand-wringing and crocodile tears.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These \u201cOrdinary\u201d problems of institutional living are aggravated by the pandemic:\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>chronic understaffing<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is made worse when staff fall ill with COVID, by quarantine restrictions, lack of protective equipment, low morale, and poor infection control procedures.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Virtual incarceration<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">; residents have no choice of schedule or freedom of movement. This is amplified by quarantine restrictions.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>\u201cInstitutional procedures\u201d<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that have a dehumanizing impact, such as inadequate staff time to help residents eat or to bathe regularly, and using adult diapers instead of helping the person to the toilet, are made worse by prohibiting visits from family members who help with personal care and communication.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Residents can\u2019t control <\/span><b>who assists them or how<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. This condition is made more dangerous when Personal Support Workers transfer from other units or facilities without quarantine restrictions or infection control.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Existing problems of <\/span><b>abuse, neglect, and unsanitary conditions<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are aggravated by absenteeism and low morale.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Other problems related to COVID-19 policies.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Increasing wages for institutional employees to make up for staff shortages lures workers away from providing home-based care.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Proprietary software and digital locks make it difficult to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/2020\/03\/webcast-archive-repairing-medical-equipment-in-the-covid-19-pandemic\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">repair or adapt<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> ventilators and other medical equipment.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">People whose health deteriorates due to poor-quality care (i.e. insufficient time to eat, poor wound care) are placed on \u201cpalliative care\u201d where food and water are withdrawn, whether or not they have COVID-19.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Medical assistance in dying, which is classified as <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/?p=4858\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">an \u201celective\u201d procedure<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, continued, despite the suspension of other elective procedures.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/2020\/04\/webcast-archive-ontario-triage-protocol\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ontario<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/faq\/quest-ce-que-le-handicap-a-a-voir-avec-ca-le-suicide-assiste-nest-il-pas-seulement-pour-les-personnes-qui-sont-en-phase-terminale\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Qu\u00e9bec<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> issued triage protocols which drew fire from disability rights organizations because they failed to conform to principles of non-discrimination described in the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/autisticadvocacy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Evaluation-framework-for-crisis-standards-of-care-plans-4.9.20-final.pdf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Evaluation Framework for crisis plans<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Both the Ontario and Qu\u00e9bec protocols mention specific disabilities, such as cognitive impairments, Parkinson\u2019s disease, ALS, and cystic fibrosis, as criteria for exclusion.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While neither protocol uses \u201cquality of life\u201d measures, they both use the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cmaj.ca\/content\/cmaj\/173\/5\/489.full.pdf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Clinical Frailty Scale<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, a measure of a person\u2019s overall health based on their ability to independently perform certain activities of daily living.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Both protocols use potential for long-term survival as a threshold eligibility criterion, which puts people with chronic illnesses and disabilities at a disadvantage for getting treatment and fails to account for the significant uncertainty surrounding long-term survival probabilities.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Side-stepping Triage policies<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Policies are not invoked if there\u2019s no strain on the system<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There\u2019s no strain on the system if people aren\u2019t sent for treatment in intensive care units from nursing homes<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">de facto<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> triage by age and disability.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>There\u2019s hope in fighting back<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nobodyisdisposable.org\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">#NoBodyIsDisposable<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is a coalition of queer, fat, disabled folks and people of colour who have challenged discriminatory policies and created educational materials.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Black Lives Matter movement has amplified the voices of disabled people of colour, as they speak about the intersectional nature of racism and disability discrimination.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Workers in low-paid jobs (including institutions) have high exposure rates.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Prisons have become a common custodial care setting for <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.ca\/books?hl=en&amp;lr=&amp;id=YttCBAAAQBAJ&amp;oi=fnd&amp;pg=PP1&amp;dq=disability+prison+canada&amp;ots=0y-s_dbGuk&amp;sig=t9r7eWK3lrCSzrt7N7k1epUL2BE#v=onepage&amp;q=disability%20prison%20canada&amp;f=false\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">people with disabilities<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and black, brown and indigenous people are <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.researchgate.net\/publication\/274314275_Race_Crime_and_Criminal_Justice_in_Canada\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">over-represented in the prison population<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Disproportionate death rates among racial and ethnic minorities.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In response to criticism of the <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ohrc.on.ca\/en\/news_centre\/letter-presidentceo-ontario-health-re-covid-19-triage-protocol-data-collection-essential-support\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ontario triage protocol<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, it was withdrawn and has not yet been replaced. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/triage.quebec\/en\/home-english\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Qu\u00e9bec\u2019s triage protocol<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is being challenged by advocates who have launched <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/triage.quebec\/en\/sign-the-petition\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">a petition<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Communication and accessibility options have expanded through the adoption of working from home and online meetings. The isolation that disabled people live with all the time has become the norm for everyone else.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n   ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-summary\">\n<div class=\"entry-summary\">\nThis week we summarize the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic, and the policies meant to contain it, on disabled people.\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/2020\/06\/webcast-archive-the-tally-covid-19-and-people-with-disabilities\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &ldquo;Webcast Archive: The tally: COVID-19 and people with disabilities&rdquo;<\/span>&hellip;<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/2020\/06\/webcast-archive-the-tally-covid-19-and-people-with-disabilities\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &ldquo;Webcast Archive: The tally: COVID-19 and people with disabilities&rdquo;<\/span>&hellip;<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[92],"tags":[784,354,735,511,776,729,95,788,785,741,738,731,739,733,742,805,99,94,727,97,62,725,740,770,499,96,98,101,468,156,724,373],"class_list":["post-4952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-webcast-archive","tag-assisted-suicide","tag-autonomy","tag-choice","tag-continuous-palliative-sedation","tag-covid","tag-degenerative","tag-dignity","tag-end-of-life","tag-euthanasia","tag-external-pressure","tag-grievous-and-irremediable","tag-hospice","tag-incurable","tag-informed-consent","tag-irreversible-decline","tag-maid","tag-medical-aid-in-dying","tag-medical-assistance-in-dying","tag-nursing-home","tag-pain","tag-palliative-care","tag-pandemic","tag-quality-of-life","tag-rationing","tag-reasonably-foreseeable","tag-safeguards","tag-suffering","tag-suicide","tag-terminal","tag-triage","tag-ventilator","tag-vulnerable","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4952"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4952\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4955,"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4952\/revisions\/4955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}