As concerns over the health and wellbeing of individuals with disabilities increase as a result of circumstances surrounding COVID-19 (otherwise known as the “Coronavirus”), Disability Rights Louisiana (DRLA) remains committed to continuing to aggressively represent the best interest of all children, adults, and seniors with disabilities during these unsettling times.
Individuals with disabilities often have complex health needs and/or special healthcare considerations, may be more likely to live in congregate type settings, and may be more significantly dependent on direct healthcare professionals. Provided these characteristics, this population is especially vulnerable to catastrophic and devastating outcomes resulting from infection.
Taking this into consideration, DRLA has been in daily contact with Governor Edwards’ office, leadership within the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH), and other relevant advocacy organizations to stress the importance of taking swift and immediate action to mediate the effects of this pandemic on some of our State’s most vulnerable citizens. DRLA has, and will continue to communicate what we view as the most immediate issues/concerns, along with providing recommendations on how those issues/concerns should be addressed. Our goal is to work collaboratively with government, provider agencies, partner organizations, family members of individuals with disabilities and individuals with disabilities themselves in order to develop solutions to the abundance of challenges that will inevitably present themselves.
Additionally, provided the rapidly changing landscape, we hope to be able to act as a reliable resource for current and relevant information.
In the meantime, I do want to share a couple basic resources that I think are helpful:
- This is a great document that was created by individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, specifically for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The document assists in helping certain individuals with disabilities better understand various aspects about COVID-19: https://selfadvocacyinfo.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Plain-Language-Information-on-Coronavirus.pdf
- This link provides information from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) about who might fall into the “high risk” category and what precautions should be taken to keep healthy: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/specific-groups/high-risk-complications.html
- This page provides up-to-date figures regarding cases in Louisiana and other important information regarding COVID-19: http://www.ldh.la.gov/coronavirus/
- This page, provided through NolaReady, provides several New Orleans based resources for a wide range of different issues: https://ready.nola.gov/incident/coronavirus/resources/
- During these times it is important to pay attention to your mental health. The following link takes you to information provided by the World Health Organization (WHO) to help understand various mental health considerations that should be taken during this time: https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/mental-health-considerations.pdf?sfvrsn=6d3578af_2
Additionally, please follow DRLA on Facebook and Twitter for periodic updates and access to additional resources.
If you encountering disability-related issues, please reach out to us by calling 504-522-2337, or our toll free number, 1-800-966-7705. While we are not taking walk-ins at this time, our services are still available.
If you have a disability related issue or concern regarding to COVID-19, please call or email us at: COVID-19@disabilityrightsla.org. If you are experiencing a medical emergency, please call 911.
Thank you all for your support during this difficult time and please know that DRLA is working diligently to ensure that the rights and wellbeing of all children, adults, and seniors with disabilities are being upheld.
Sincerely,
Christopher Rodriguez
Executive Director
