在公共卫生危机中为残疾人提供可获取的健康信息：对澳大利亚可获取信息提供组织在新冠疫情期间经历的定性研究

Providing accessible health information for people with disability in a public health crisis: A qualitative study of the experiences of Australian accessible information provider organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

作者信息

Meltzer Ariella, Barnes Emma, Wehbe Ayah

机构信息

Centre for Social Impact, University of New South Wales, UNSW, 704, Level 7, Science and Engineering Building (E8), Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.

Centre for Social Impact, University of New South Wales, Australia.

出版信息

Disabil Health J. 2025 Apr;18(2):101720. doi: 10.1016/j.dhjo.2024.101720. Epub 2024 Oct 17.

DOI:10.1016/j.dhjo.2024.101720

PMID:39438240

Abstract

BACKGROUND

During the COVID-19 pandemic, people with disability had a right and an acute need to access accessible COVID-19 information, in formats such as sign language, Braille, large print and Easy Read/English. Yet such information was not always provided and many people with disability were without sufficient accessible information.

OBJECTIVE

This paper explores the experiences of Australian accessible information provider organizations of producing accessible information during the pandemic. The intent is to understand why insufficient accessible information reached people with disability.

METHODS

In-depth interviews were conducted with 17 accessible information provider organizations and one other stakeholder in Australia, and thematically analyzed.

RESULTS

The findings show that accessible information provider organizations felt an immense depth and breadth of responsibility for providing accessible information to people with disability during the pandemic. However, they were hampered by constantly changing information; workforce challenges; and a lack of financial, logistic and partnership assistance. Other notable difficulties included having no source of clear/accurate information to translate to accessible formats and not having medical/health expertise themselves.

CONCLUSION

The findings have implications for better preparation for accessible information access in future public health crises. There should be greater funding and logistic support for accessible information provider organizations. Provision of clear/accurate information and subject matter checks of accessible products would be helpful. Responsibility for this should be scoped into existing outreach, education and communications roles - for example, in local health services, general practice clinics and government health departments.

摘要