Page 14 - Community Living Magazine 34-2

cover feature: coronavirus

Hungary Taiwan have learned
▼
In Hungary, more than By early 2020, the to wash their
20,000 disabled people Taiwanese government hands using
live in institutions had quickly established “the seven
because of a lack of community services. measures to control the spread of easy steps”. All
The pandemic has increased their Covid-19, having learned vital lessons visitors must
segregation and reinforced the urgency of from the outbreak of severe acute measure their
deinstitutionalisation. respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003. temperature,
By August, of the 614 people who died as There had been only 550 infections and clean their
a result of Covid-19, 142 lived in social care seven confirmed deaths by late October, hands and
settings and figures have continued to rise. and no new cases since early April. leave their
There are no figures yet on deaths of So far, no people with learning phone
people with learning disabilities. Residents disabilities are known to have been number.
of institutions have been banned from infected. Until September, users of Despite
going out or receiving visitors yet some of different services were not allowed to Taiwan being Coronavirus precautions at
these have still become Covid-19 hotspots. contact one another to prevent infection hailed for its Taiwan National University
People with learning disabilities have from spreading between groups. coronavirus
paid a very high price. Lockdown and Some local authorities have issued prevention strategy, generally Taiwanese
isolation have harmed mental health, and easy-read manuals so people can learn how disabled people are not satisfied with the
keeping in touch with family and friends to protect themselves and avoid infection. government, as many prevention and
has become very difficult. Support for the If a person is confirmed as infected, support measures were not initially
mental wellbeing of residents and staff has they will be hospitalised for treatment included and the government started to
received no government help or attention. and the residential setting will be locked pay attention to disabled people’s needs
Many institutions have turned to down. Staff and volunteers who have only after campaigns by them between
external partners for support. Advocacy received specialist training are the only March and May. n
body ÉFOÉSZ has been organising virtual care staff who can work for people asked
events for their residents, and providing to stay in quarantine. Yueh-Ching Chou is a professor in the
free equipment for those who need it. Since January, local authorities have Institute of Health and Welfare Policy,
Temporary support or care has not been delivered masks daily to service users and National Yang-Ming University, Taipei;
made available for people living with staff in residential and day care settings. All Bau-Ju Chen is a retired learning disability
families if a family carer is hospitalised. service users and staff are required to day/residential care service centre
Some people with learning disabilities measure their temperature daily. People manager and is now a freelance supervisor
and autism find it difficult to wear a mask,
which is compulsory on public transport
and in shops. People not wearing a mask Hong Kong in small flats caused them and their
are fined – we have asked the authorities When Hong Kong people children to “fight like cornered beasts”.
for exemptions from fines in these cases. were enjoying their A comparison of two studies conducted
We have been regularly creating and Chinese New Year by a local policy-maker in February and
sharing easy-read and accessible news holidays in late January 2020, the August showed that family conflicts and
and information about the pandemic on government suddenly announced emotional outbursts were more frequent
our website and social media. n that special schools and almost all in August.
community, vocational and residential Service providers created opportunities
Tibor Czakó is self-advocacy coordinator and services would be suspended after to address this unprecedented reduction
Ilona Sallai is a self-advocate and advocacy the holidays. in support for people with learning
consultant at ÉFOÉSZ, the Hungarian Tens of thousands of people with disabilities. Lacking additional resources
Association for Persons with Intellectual learning disabilities and their families from the government, some NGOs
Disability. Translated by Agnes Turnpenny suffered from this unexpected measure, successfully procured donations of surgical
as they were forced to stay at home masks and hand sanitiser for service Dr Agnes Dencs/ Wikimedia Commons: Hungary; Geographyinitiative/ Wikimedia Commons; NASA/Wikimedia Commons/Christy Lawrance
Coronavirus testing without help. users, as well as smartphones that staff
in Hungary Unfortunately, service providers were could use to keep in contact with them.
unable to make timely contingency Besides sending tips and information on
arrangements for maintaining support to Covid-19 via messaging applications,
service users, as they had not received practitioners also produced tailor-made
any messages from the government videos coaching people on exercises and
before the holidays regarding social reminding them about
distancing measures. personal hygiene. n
The scarcity of living space in Hong
Kong has made the lives of people Phyllis King Shui
with learning disabilities even Wong is an assistant
harder during the pandemic. professor in the
While services were Department of
suspended, caregivers reported Social Work at the
that round-the-clock caring Chinese University of
and management of behaviour Hong Kong

14 Vol 34 No 2 | Winter 2021 Community Living www.cl-initiatives.co.uk