The case for 'health related impairments and disabilities'

Abstract

Health conditions, both chronic and acute, are often accompanied by disability-like impairments that might affect mobility, cognition, or perception. These impairments are often pernicious because they are difficult to isolate, vary in intensity and extent over time, and are under-investigated. Here, we make the case that solutions to these impairments are often impervious to traditional accessibility solutions and thinking, and that new solutions are needed. We present argumentation and case-studies, which build the case for a different category of impairments called 'Health-Related Impairments and Disabilities' (HIID). The distinction between traditionally defined disabilities and HIIDs are important because an understanding that this category of impairments is fundamentally different both in cause and nature, affects the effectiveness of the accessibility solutions we provide. Here, we intended to outline the 'problem'1 space and elaborate on the four main characteristics of HIIDs (as we see them) to provide delineation and clarity. This is the only way that robust solutions within this problem space can be enacted, being: (1) Combinatorial Impairments; (2) Dynamic Impairments varying in Magnitude and Extent; (3) Impairments as a Comorbidity; and (4) Socio-Technical. It is our intention to outline these characteristics with third-party cases to serve as exemplars of the problems faced. We do not provide research solutions, or indeed any novel empirical evidence. But rather, define a place for discussions to begin. Therefore, this work is better understood as a position paper or a call-to-action. Simply, we make the case that addressing the disability (caused by the underlying illness) is often ineffective; what we need to do is address the illness directly which will in turn address the disability through their transitory relationship.