Help at hand for Covid-19 patients who have disabilities

Covid-19 patients with disabilities who are eligible to recover at home will be assigned a home recovery care manager, who will link them up with community services and resources, among other things.

Telemedicine providers will also be informed of the patients' disabilities so that they can better communicate with them using the most appropriate methods, such as determining if seeing a patient in person is necessary.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) also works with other ministries and agencies, such as the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) and the Agency for Integrated Care, to best support Covid-19 patients with disabilities who want to recover at home, an MOH spokesman said.

And those who do not have an able-bodied caregiver at home will be sent to the appropriate care or treatment facility, where staff will attend to their needs.

The MOH told The Straits Times this in response to a Facebook post by former Nominated Member of Parliament Anthea Ong on Nov 10 that called for processes to be made more inclusive for people with disabilities who are infected with the coronavirus.

Ms Ong said she has four deaf friends who caught Covid-19 in the past month.

One of them, a man in his 50s, was afraid of passing the virus to his elderly mother, who has underlying medical conditions, and his wife.

But he was also fearful of being isolated in a recovery facility, given his communication difficulties.

He also worried about the cost of treatment as he did not know it was free, Ms Ong said. His wife, who is deaf, also tested positive after he did. The couple recovered at an isolation facility.

Currently, those who test positive or are close contacts of a Covid-19 patient are given a telephone number to call or asked to visit the Government's Covid-19 website for more information and assistance, Ms Ong said.

But the deaf cannot call the authorities over the phone for help, those interviewed pointed out.

Ms Ong suggested that the authorities set up a text line where the deaf can communicate with the MOH through text messages sent over a mobile phone.

She said: "This will help the deaf and hard of hearing feel less distressed when they know there is a channel that they can access.

"We must not think that just because there's a website with information that many will go there. In a state of distress, one often is not in the state of mind to navigate through all that information - what more for those who do not have the savviness or literacy to do so."

Community and disability groups have stepped up to help Covid-19 patients with disabilities.

Since the first week of last month, SG Assist has helped about 29 people with disabilities, including those who are blind or deaf, and stroke patients, on issues relating to home recovery, said its co-founder Adrian Tan.

SG Assist is a social enterprise that connects volunteers with those in need in real time.

For example, it links patients who are blind with its telemedicine partner, which will send healthcare professionals to their homes to swab them at no charge.

This is because a blind person may not have a loved one to help him with self-testing or see the results of his antigen rapid test (ART) for Covid-19, Mr Tan said.

SG Assist also matches Covid-19 patients with disabilities to volunteers or organisations to help them buy groceries and assist with their other needs.

The Singapore Association of the Visually Handicapped (SAVH) has partnered SG Assist to help blind people get tested for Covid-19.

The Tan Chin Tuan Foundation has also donated $10,000 to SAVH for it to buy ART kits for those the SAVH serves.

The SAVH plans to produce a video on how to use the ART kits. The video will be user-friendly for those with visual impairments as it verbally narrates the instructions.

Ms Judy Lim, executive director of the Singapore Association for the Deaf (SADeaf), said the association has helped members of the deaf community find out what to do if they are suspected or confirmed to have the virus. It also liaises with their caregivers and family members on their care.

Both SADeaf and the Autism Resource Centre (Singapore) suggested that the authorities set up text-based communication channels, such as texting through mobile phones or the use of text boxes in video chats, as an option for those who are deaf or less able to process information auditorily.

SG Enable, the agency set up by MSF that supports people with disabilities, said such individuals who need help in reaching MOH on Covid-19 matters can also reach out to SG Enable, which will do its best to support them.

SG Enable said it has worked with other agencies to improve front-line workers' understanding of people with disabilities during the pandemic. For example, it has worked with its partners to vaccinate people with disabilities living in care facilities.

The Health Promotion Board has about 50 staff trained to identify and assist people with disabilities who need to be swabbed, the MOH spokesman said.

The SG Enable spokesman said: "Many of us face challenges in adapting and adjusting to various procedures for testing, vaccination and recovery.

"For persons with disabilities, they face even more challenges around accessing information, or adjusting to changes in routines."