Open Collections

UBC Faculty Research and Publications

Living through the Pandemic with a Disability : A Longitudinal Qualitative Study Chan, Janice; Mohammadi, Somayyeh; Esfandiari, Elham; Schmidt, Julia; Mortenson, W. Ben; Miller, William C.

Abstract

This study investigated the experiences of people with disabilities during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Four semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted individually with 13 participants between May 2020 and February 2021. The data were thematically analyzed. Three themes were identified: (1) “Being an active agent in changing how things are done in the face of COVID restrictions”, revealed changes that participants made to their daily routines resulting from government-imposed and self-imposed restrictions; (2) “Pandemic restrictions wreak havoc”, explained participants challenges with adapting to the restrictions; and (3) “Trying to be resilient in the face of pandemic changes” described participants’ efforts to cope with life during the pandemic. The findings illustrate how life changed for people with disabilities during the pandemic. Participants reported specific types of challenges at each time point. As the vaccine rollout became more imminent, participants expressed more hope for the future and getting back to normal.

Item Metadata

Title
Living through the Pandemic with a Disability : A Longitudinal Qualitative Study
Creator
Chan, Janice; Mohammadi, Somayyeh; Esfandiari, Elham; Schmidt, Julia; Mortenson, W. Ben; Miller, William C.
Contributor
G.F. Strong Rehabilitation Centre; Edwin S.H. Leong Healthy Aging Program; International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries
Publisher
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
Date Issued
2023-06-27
Description
This study investigated the experiences of people with disabilities during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Four semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted individually with 13 participants between May 2020 and February 2021. The data were thematically analyzed. Three themes were identified: (1) “Being an active agent in changing how things are done in the face of COVID restrictions”, revealed changes that participants made to their daily routines resulting from government-imposed and self-imposed restrictions; (2) “Pandemic restrictions wreak havoc”, explained participants challenges with adapting to the restrictions; and (3) “Trying to be resilient in the face of pandemic changes” described participants’ efforts to cope with life during the pandemic. The findings illustrate how life changed for people with disabilities during the pandemic. Participants reported specific types of challenges at each time point. As the vaccine rollout became more imminent, participants expressed more hope for the future and getting back to normal.
Subject
individuals with disability; COVID-19; pandemic; health outbreak
Genre
Article
Type
Text
Language
eng
Date Available
2023-10-27
Provider
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights
CC BY 4.0
DOI
10.14288/1.0437386
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/2429/86364
Affiliation
Medicine, Faculty of; Other UBC; Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, Department of; Non UBC
Citation
Disabilities 3 (3): 307-318 (2023)
Publisher DOI
10.3390/disabilities3030020
Peer Review Status
Reviewed
Scholarly Level
Faculty; Researcher
Rights URI
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Aggregated Source Repository
DSpace

Item Media

Item Citations and Data

Rights

CC BY 4.0