Study: The COVID-19 pandemic and Indigenous people with a disability or long-term condition
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Released: 2021-02-01
A new study using crowdsourcing data provides insights on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on Indigenous participants with a disability or long-term condition.
Over half (57%) of Indigenous participants with a disability or long-term condition indicated that their overall health had become "somewhat worse" or "much worse" compared with before the pandemic, while 64% reported "somewhat worse" or "much worse" mental health.
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted services and supports, compounding health care access barriers experienced by Indigenous people. Indigenous participants with a disability or long-term condition most frequently reported disruptions to medical or dental care (54%), physiotherapy, massage, and chiropractic services (40%), medical testing unrelated to COVID-19 (38%), and counselling (32%).
The pandemic also had an impact on participants' ability to meet essential needs. Over half of Indigenous participants with a disability or long-term condition reported a 'moderate' or 'major' impact on their ability to meet their food and grocery (54%) and their Personal Protective Equipment (52%) needs.
The crowdsourcing data reflected health and other disparities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous participants with a disability or long-term condition. Indigenous participants were more likely to report worsened overall health and mental health, service disruption, and a greater impact on their ability to meet essential needs.
Products
The study "Changes to health, access to health services, and the ability to meet financial obligations among Indigenous people with long-term conditions or disabilities since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic" is now available as part of the series StatCan COVID-19: Data to Insights for a Better Canada (45280001).
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; STATCAN.infostats-infostats.STATCAN@canada.ca) or Media Relations (613-951-4636; STATCAN.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.STATCAN@canada.ca).
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