Fear, Isolation, and Invisibility During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study of Adults With Physical Disabilities

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES: To examine the initial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on adults with severe physical disabilities from low-income and racially marginalized communities. DESIGN: Qualitative, observational using individual interviews conducted at a distance. SETTING: Low-income, racially marginalized communities of Flint and Detroit, Michigan. PARTICIPANTS: 15 adults with severe, long-term physical disabilities. INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Themes associated with COVID related responses extracted from individual narratives. RESULTS: Length of interviews averaged one hour and forty minutes. Six themes emerged from the data. Overarching factors were fear, feelings of isolation, and a sense of being invisibility. These factors were experienced as a result of barriers to health and healthcare, home care assistance, and access to resources. CONCLUSIONS: Findings expand existing knowledge and offer new insights into how the pandemic impacted physical and psychological health of adults with long-term physical disabilities and made visible the risks that they must contend with as a result of inadequate or insufficient accommodations. They help elucidate how race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status can differentially impact their lives and further marginalize populations that are “always already” vulnerable. This knowledge can expand awareness and appreciation of how social, economic, and political systems are structured and integrated into future clinical guidelines and emergency response policies. AUTHOR(S) DISCLOSURES: Nothing to disclose.