Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on access to sexual and reproductive health services for women and transgender people with disabilities in Canada: a qualitative study

Meredith Evans; Alexandra Rego; Nkem Ogbonna; Kate Welsh; Sidrah K. Zafar; Lucy C. Barker; Anne Berndl; Janice Du Mont; Yona Lunsky; Amy McPherson; Lesley A. Tarasoff; Ashley Vandermorris; Hilary K. Brown

doi:10.1080/26410397.2024.2441027

Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters (Dec 2024)

Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on access to sexual and reproductive health services for women and transgender people with disabilities in Canada: a qualitative study

Meredith Evans,
Alexandra Rego,
Nkem Ogbonna,
Kate Welsh,
Sidrah K. Zafar,
Lucy C. Barker,
Anne Berndl,
Janice Du Mont,
Yona Lunsky,
Amy McPherson,
Lesley A. Tarasoff,
Ashley Vandermorris,
Hilary K. Brown

Affiliations

Meredith Evans: Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Health and Society, University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Alexandra Rego: Peer Researcher, Department of Health and Society, University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Nkem Ogbonna: Peer Researcher, Department of Health and Society, University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Kate Welsh: Peer Researcher, Department of Health and Society, University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Sidrah K. Zafar: Research Coordinator, Department of Health and Society, University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Lucy C. Barker: Scientist, Women’s College Hospital Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada; Psychiatrist, Reproductive Life Stages Program, Women’s College Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada; Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Anne Berndl: Maternal-fetal Medicine Specialist and Director of the Accessible Care Pregnancy Clinic, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada; Associate Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; Associate Scientist, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Janice Du Mont: Senior Scientist, Women’s College Hospital Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada; Professor, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Yona Lunsky: Scientific Director, Azrieli Adult Neurodevelopmental Centre, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada; Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Amy McPherson: Senior Scientist, Bloorview Research Institute, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada; Associate Professor, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Lesley A. Tarasoff: Adjunct Lecturer, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; Programme Manager, Ontario Provincial Council for Maternal and Child Health, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Ashley Vandermorris: Staff Physician, Division of Adolescent Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), Toronto, ON, Canada; Assistant Professor, Department of Paediatrics, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Hilary K. Brown: Associate Professor, Department of Health and Society, University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto, ON, Canada; Associate Professor, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; Adjunct Scientist, Women’s College Hospital Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/26410397.2024.2441027

Abstract

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The COVID-19 pandemic has had a detrimental impact on sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and rights globally. However, little is known about the experiences of people with disabilities accessing SRH services during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this community-engaged qualitative study, we examined COVID-related impacts on access to SRH services for people with disabilities. We interviewed 61 women and transgender people in Canada from May 2022 to March 2023. Informed by disability reproductive justice, we identified four major themes through constructivist analysis. First, COVID-related changes to SRH service delivery disrupted access to care and caused disability-related health implications. Second, pandemic response measures changed SRH service accessibility: in-person accessibility barriers were amplified, new in-person accessibility barriers were introduced, and the transition to telehealth amplified, as well as mitigated, accessibility barriers. Third, COVID-related social changes (e.g., lockdowns) had disability-related SRH and rights implications. Fourth, disabled people recommended improving SRH services by enhancing funding, provider training, information and communication, disability accommodations, representation, and comprehensive community engagement. Cutting across these themes were disproportionate negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on access to SRH services for racialized women and transgender people with disabilities. Failure to ensure SRH and rights for women and transgender people with disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic undermined disability reproductive justice. Comprehensive disability community engagement is necessary to inform accessible SRH services and policies, both during and beyond a pandemic.

Published in Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters

ISSN: 2641-0397 (Online)
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Group
Country of publisher: United Kingdom
LCC subjects: Medicine: Internal medicine: Specialties of internal medicine: Diseases of the genitourinary system. Urology; Social Sciences: The family. Marriage. Woman
Website: https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/zrhm

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