Disability, Disablism, and COVID-19 Pandemic Triage
The impact of disablism on pandemic triage guidance for allocation of critical care is examined, identifying three underlying disablist assumptions that unjustly and potentially catastrophically disadvantage people with disability in COVID-19 and other global health emergencies.
Abstract
Pandemics such as COVID-19 place everyone at risk, but certain kinds of risk are differentially severe for groups already made vulnerable by pre-existing forms of social injustice and discrimination. For people with disability, persisting and ubiquitous disablism is played out in a variety of ways in clinical and public health contexts. This paper examines the impact of disablism on pandemic triage guidance for allocation of critical care. It identifies three underlying disablist assumptions about disability and health status, quality of life, and social utility, that unjustly and potentially catastrophically disadvantage people with disability in COVID-19 and other global health emergencies.