Navigating the Covid-19 Pandemic's Impact On Children With Disabilities And Their Families in Azerbaijan

Year 2025, Volume: 9 Issue: 2, 847 - 872

Rima Mammadova , Kamala Gahramanova , Khayala Mammadova

https://doi.org/10.30561/sinopusd.1624965

Abstract

This study was designed to identify major health concerns related to special children during Covid-19 lockdown, including school closures, service reduc-tion, healthcare access restrictions, and unique challenges associated with car-ing for children with disabilities that significantly impact their daily lives and well-being. National questionnaire was designed by researchers and dissemi-nated in Azerbaijan from December 25, 2023 to March 05, 2024, physically. This cross-sectional study was conducted in the Western, Eastern, as well as Northeast parts of Azerbaijan, a total of 108 parents completed a clinical and demographic survey. Data on children's care, rehabilitation, education, and family organization was collected. The first 108 eligible surveys were ana-lyzed. This study found that the COVID-19 lockdown has increased physical, social, psychological, and financial challenges for parents and fami-lies of special needs children. Child health and access to basic facilities and rehabilitation services are harmed by this pandemic.
Keywords: COVID-19, Children with disabilities, Pandemic lockdown, Sur-vey analysis, Azerbaijan.

Keywords

COVID-19 , Engelli çocuklar , Anket analizi , Azerbaycan.

Navigating the covid-19 pandemic's impact on children with disabilities and their families in Azerbaijan

Abstract

This study was designed to identify major health concerns related to special children during Covid-19 lockdown, including school closures, service reduction, healthcare access restrictions, and unique challenges associated with caring for children with disabilities that significantly impact their daily lives and well-being. National questionnaire was designed by researchers and disseminated in Azerbaijan from December 25, 2023 to March 05, 2024, physically. This cross-sectional study was conducted in the Western, Eastern, as well as Northeast parts of Azerbaijan, a total of 108 parents completed a clinical and demographic survey. Data on children's care, rehabilitation, education, and family organization was collected. The first 108 eligible surveys were analyzed. This study found that the COVID-19 lockdown has increased physical, social, psychological, and financial challenges for parents and families of special needs children. Child health and access to basic facilities and rehabilitation services are harmed by this pandemic.

Keywords

COVID-19 , Children with disabilities , Pandemic lockdown , Survey analysis , Azerbaijan.

References

• Afifah, Q. A. (2021). Analysis of the Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Family Harmo-ny: Case Studies on Family with and without People with Special Needs. Indonesian Journal of Community and Special Needs Education, 1(2), 87–92. https://doi.org/10.17509/ijcsne.v1i2.33817
• Armitage, R., & Nellums, L. B. (2020). The COVID-19 response must be disability inclu-sive. The Lancet Public Health, 5(5), e257. https://doi.org/10.1016/s2468-2667(20)30076-1
• Asbury, K., Fox, L., Deniz, E., Code, A., & Toseeb, U. (2021). How is COVID-19 Affecting the Mental Health of Children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities and Their Families? Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 51(5), 1772–1780. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-020-04577-2
• Blank, G. (2017). The digital divide among Twitter users and its implications for social research. Social Science Computer Review, 35(6), 679-697. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894439316671698
• Chen, S.-Q., Chen, S.-D., Li, X.-K., & Ren, J. (2020). Mental Health of Parents of Special Needs Children in China during the COVID-19 Pandemic. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(24), 9519. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17249519
• Colizzi, M., Sironi, E., Antonini, F., Ciceri, M. L., Bovo, C., & Zoccante, L. (2020). Psycho-social and Behavioral Impact of COVID-19 in Autism Spectrum Disorder: An Online Parent Survey. Brain Sciences, 10(6), 341. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci10060341
• Couper-Kenney, F., & Riddell, S. (2021). The impact of COVID-19 on children with addi-tional support needs and disabilities in Scotland. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 36(1), 20–34. https://doi.org/10.1080/08856257.2021.1872844
• Croft, S., & Fraser, S. (2022). A Scoping Review of Barriers and Facilitators Affecting the Lives of People with Disabilities During COVID-19. Frontiers in Rehabilitation Sci-ences, 2, 784450. https://doi.org/10.3389/fresc.2021.784450
• Dhiman, S., Sahu, P. K., Reed, W. R., Ganesh, G. S., Goyal, R. K., & Jain, S. (2020). Impact of COVID-19 outbreak on mental health and perceived strain among caregivers tending children with special needs. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 107, 103790. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2020.103790
• Drożdżal, S., Rosik, J., Lechowicz, K., Machaj, F., Szostak, B., Przybyciński, J., Lorzadeh, S., Kotfis, K., Ghavami, S., & Łos, M. J. (2021). An update on drugs with therapeutic potential for SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) treatment. Drug Resistance Updates, 59, 100794. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drup.2021.100794
• Gok, M., Cetinkaya, H., Kandemir, T., Karahan, E., Tuncer, İ. B., Bukrek, C., & Sahin, G. (2021). Chronic kidney disease predicts poor outcomes of COVID-19 patients. In-ternational Urology and Nephrology, 53(9), 1891–1898. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11255-020-02758-7 Hallek, M., Adorjan, K., Behrends, U., Ertl, G., Suttorp, N., & Lehmann, C. (2023). Post-COVID syndrome. Deutsches Ärzteblatt International, 120(4), 48-55. https://doi.org/10.3238/arztebl.m2022.0409
• Houtrow, A., Harris, D., Molinero, A., Levin-Decanini, T., & Robichaud, C. (2020). Children with disabilities in the United States and the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Pedi-atric Rehabilitation Medicine, 13(3), 415–424. https://doi.org/10.3233/prm-200769
• Ismayilzade, A. A., Guliyeva, S., Teymurova, V., Azizova, R., & Alishova, C. (2021). The impact of Covid-19 on the quality of human capital for the economic development of Azerbaijan. Journal of Eastern European and Central Asian Research (JEECAR), 8(1), 26–39. https://doi.org/10.15549/jeecar.v8i1.639
• Jeste, S., Hyde, C., Distefano, C., Halladay, A., Ray, S., Porath, M., Wilson, R. B., & Thurm, A. (2020). Changes in access to educational and healthcare services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities during COVID‐19 restrictions. Jour-nal of Intellectual Disability Research, 64(11), 825–833. Portico. https://doi.org/10.1111/jir.12776
• Khatri, P., Agrawal, K. K., Sharma, D., Chhetri, P., Neupane, A., Piryani, R. M., Baral, P. P., Sapkota, S. R., Banjade, A., Chhetri, A., Bhandari, S., & Bharali, S. (2021). Prevalance of Elevated D-dimer Levels in Confirmed COVID-19 Cases in Intensive Care Unit of a Tertiary Care Centre of Western Nepal. Journal of Nepal Medical As-sociation, 59(235), 243-247. https://doi.org/10.31729/jnma.6284
• Korenman, S., & Hyson, R. T. (2023). Health insurance, labor market shocks, and mental health during the first year of the COVID-19 crisis. Economics & Human Biology, 51, 101298. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ehb.2023.101298
• Lunetti, C., Di Giunta, L., Gliozzo, G., Riccioni, C., Comitale, C., Basili, E., Baxseliyeva, A., & Virzì, A. T. (2023). Parental Happiness Socialization and Youth Adjustment in Italy and Azerbaijan in the COVID-19 Pandemic Era. International Journal of En-vironmental Research and Public Health, 20(4), 3604. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20043604 Mikayilova, U. T., Orujova, L., & Babayeva, U. (2023). Status of Inclusive Education in Azerbaijan. In Progress Toward Agenda 2030: A Mid Term Review of the Status of Inclusive Education in Global Contexts, pp. 121-137, Emerald Publishing Limited. https://doi.org/10.1108/s1479-363620230000021009
• Miller, S. M., & van Heumen, L. (2021). Inclusive online research with people labeled with intellectual and developmental disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic: techno-logical adaptations. Journal of Enabling Technologies, 15(2), 122-135.
• Mills, W. R., Sender, S., Lichtefeld, J., Romano, N., Reynolds, K., Price, M., Phipps, J., White, L., Howard, S., Poltavski, D., & Barnes, R. (2020). Supporting individuals with intellectual and developmental disability during the first 100 days of the COVID‐19 outbreak in the USA. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 64(7), 489–496. Portico. https://doi.org/10.1111/jir.12740
• Navas, P., Amor, A. M., Crespo, M., Wolowiec, Z., & Verdugo, M. Á. (2021). Supports for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities during the COVID-19 pan-demic from their own perspective. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 108, 103813. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2020.103813
• Neece, C., McIntyre, L. L., & Fenning, R. (2020). Examining the impact of COVID‐19 in ethnically diverse families with young children with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 64(10), 739–749. https://doi.org/10.1111/jir.12769
• Ren, J., Li, X., Chen, S., Chen, S., & Nie, Y. (2020). The Influence of Factors Such as Par-enting Stress and Social Support on the State Anxiety in Parents of Special Needs Children During the COVID-19 Epidemic. Frontiers in Psychology, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.565393
• Roberts, A., Chouhan, R. S., Shahdeo, D., Shrikrishna, N. S., Kesarwani, V., Horvat, M., & Gandhi, S. (2021). A Recent Update on Advanced Molecular Diagnostic Techniques for COVID-19 Pandemic: An Overview. Frontiers in Immunology, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2021.732756
• Sahin, G. (2021). Chronic kidney disease predicts poor outcomes of COVID-19 patients. International Urology and Nephrology, 53(9), 1891–1898. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11255-020-02758-7
• Smitha, S. G., Pillai, N., Nayak, B., & Raveendran, J. (2021). A Study on Otorhinolaryngo-logical Presentations in Covid 19 Patients in a Tertiary Health Care Center. Indian Journal of Otolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery, 74(S2), 2935–2940. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12070-021-02564-2
• Suaifan, G. A. R. Y., Alkhawaja, B. A., & Mohammed, A. A. M. (2022). RNA Coronavirus-es’ Outbreaks: Recent Progress on the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic Diagnostic Tests, Vaccination and Therapeutics. Mini-Reviews in Medicinal Chemistry, 22(4), 617–628. https://doi.org/10.2174/1389557521666210422113915
• Supratiwi, M., Yusuf, M., & Anggarani, F. K. (2021). Mapping the Challenges in Distance Learning for Students with Disabilities during Covid-19 Pandemic: Survey of Spe-cial Education Teachers. International Journal of Pedagogy and Teacher Educa-tion, 5(1), 11-18. https://doi.org/10.20961/ijpte.v5i1.45970
• Thakur, A., Pereira, C., Hardy, J., Bobbette, N., Sockalingam, S., & Lunsky, Y. (2021). Virtual Education Program to Support Providers Caring for People With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Rapid Develop-ment and Evaluation Study. JMIR Mental Health, 8(10), e28933. https://doi.org/10.2196/28933
• The State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affaires of the Republic of Azer-baijan. (2020). Analysis of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on families. Family, Women and Children (25), pp.40-47, http://family.gov.az/store/media/Aila%20qadin%20ushaq%20Jurnal%C4%B1.pdf
• Toquero, C. M. D. (2020). Inclusion of People with Disabilities amid COVID-19: Laws, Interventions, Recommendations. Multidisciplinary Journal of Educational Re-search, 10(2), 158-177. https://doi.org/10.17583/remie.2020.5877
• Toseeb, U., Asbury, K., Code, A., Fox, L., & Deniz, E. (2020). Supporting Families with Children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities During COVID-19. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/tm69k
• UNICEF. (2020). Comprehensive measures must be taken to protect the safety, well-being and future of children from the COVID-19 pandemic. April 17, https://www.unicef.org/azerbaijan/az/press-relizl%C9%99r/unicef-covid-19-pandemiyas%C4%B1ndan-u%C5%9Faqlar%C4%B1n-t%C9%99hl%C3%BCk%C9%99sizliyini-rifah%C4%B1n%C4%B1-v%C9%99-g%C9%99l%C9%99c%C9%99yini
• Verdiyeva, T., Muradli, A., & Huseynova, N. (2022). Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on the Well-being of Children with Disabilities and their Parents in Azerbaijan. The Un-equal Costs of Covid-19 on Well-being in Europe (pp. 133-147): Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-14425-7_8
• Wong, P. W., Lam, Y., Lau, J. S., & Fok, H. (2021). The Resilience of Social Service Provid-ers and Families of Children With Autism or Development Delays During the COVID-19 Pandemic—A Community Case Study in Hong Kong. Frontiers in Psy-chiatry, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.561657