Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic threatened the accessibility and response of healthcare systems worldwide. People with disabilities face specific access challenges to healthcare services and to healthcare information in accessible formats. Aim: To explore how deaf women acceded to information and sexual and reproductive health care during the first wave of COVID-19. Material and Methods: Sixty-one women with a median age of 32 years diagnosed with deafness and hearing loss were surveyed using an online questionnaire about access to healthcare information and midwifery care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: Forty-nine percent of respondents lived in the Metropolitan Region. Sixty-eight percent of respondents mentioned that information about COVID-19 was not accessible for them. The main source of information that they used to learn about the pandemic were videos made by deaf people available on the internet. Seventy-five percent of women reported that they had not received accessible information about sexual and reproductive health, and 70.0% of women requiring midwife care could not book an appointment. Conclusions: The pandemic generated a crisis in the Chilean healthcare system that demands a new strategy to ensure people's healthcare access. People with disabilities such as those herein studied are marginalized when these new policies are being discussed and implemented. Decision-makers and sexual and reproductive health services must improve their strategies to allow women with disabilities, particularly deaf women gain access.