草莓污视频导航

June 12, 2020

Who will be left behind when the 'new normal' begins?

As number of vulnerable Calgarians grows, data-driven social justice must guide decision-making
Older adult on park bench with mask on
Older adult on park bench with mask on

鈥淰ulnerability鈥 takes on a new meaning in a pandemic. For some Calgarians, this is one of the few times in their lives they have felt exposed to a threat outside of their control. For others, COVID-19 is compounding the vulnerabilities they experience every day. As we emerge from isolation, the impact of compounding 颅鈥斅燼nd expanding 鈥斅爒ulnerability is coming sharply into focus.

Dr. Katrina Milaney, PhD, and Dr. Ron Kneebone, PhD, are members of the COVID-19 data taskforce, a group of 草莓污视频导航 researchers advising the City of Calgary鈥檚 pandemic response. When The City recognized the disparity of the impact of COVID-19 on citizens, Milaney and Kneebone assembled the data, and it tells a distressing story.

鈥淭his is raising awareness of just how vulnerable some Calgarians are,鈥 says Kneebone, scientific director of social policy and health research in .

We are headed into a real crisis.

Vulnerable populations include people with disabilities, older adults, residents of long-term care facilities, people living in crowded or unsafe housing, those with severe medical conditions, and people experiencing homelessness. They also include otherwise healthy people who have low incomes and little in the way of accumulated savings.

鈥淧overty weakens an individual鈥檚 ability to cope with new problems piled on top of those already being dealt with,鈥 Milaney and Kneebone state in their report to The City. 鈥淭he impact of a pandemic on this population adds to already high levels of stress and in so doing compounds existing health conditions.鈥

'Flattening the curve' not feasible for vulnerable populations

Things citizens have been asked to do to 鈥渇latten the curve鈥 颅are simply not feasible for vulnerable populations, they say.

鈥淒r. Hinshaw tells us to distance ourselves from each other, but when you鈥檙e sleeping and eating in a shelter, that鈥檚 really hard,鈥 says Kneebone. 鈥淲e鈥檙e being told to stock up on groceries to minimize the number of times that you go to the store, but if you have a very limited income, you have no opportunities to do that.鈥

It鈥檚 no coincidence that the people most impacted by COVID-19 are low-income workers. 鈥淭hey have to go to the meat-packing plant, they can only afford crowded housing, and they need to car share to get to and from work,鈥 says Kneebone. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e the people who are most exposed, and who are unable to escape it and have to deal with it directly.鈥

Many Calgarians may go from 'managing' to 'vulnerable'聽

Calgary is also home to a large population who are 鈥渕anaging鈥 颅鈥斅45 per cent of Albertans are $200 or less away from being unable to pay their bills.

鈥淭here鈥檚 concerns that we will see a whole new level of vulnerability 鈥斅燼 group of people who were managing before but are now going into debt or using credit to buy supplies, or deferring utility or mortgage payments, and they鈥檙e going to have this debt to pay,鈥 says Milaney, assistant professor in the , and member of the at the .

As stress mounts and unemployment continues, Calgarians are accessing social services in greater numbers, and with escalating severity of need.

Since Alberta鈥檚 public health measures began in March, there has been a 38 per cent increase in calls to a local crisis response team including 20 to 46 per cent increase in suicide-related calls week-over-week from 2019. The top issues are feelings of anxiety, depression, and isolation/loneliness. Calls to domestic violence and sexual assault centres have risen by 57 per cent and according to some organizations, drug overdoses have increased by 300 per cent. Alberta鈥檚 April 2020 employment decreased by an unprecedented 381,900 jobs compared to April 2019.

Milaney describes these numbers as just the beginning. 鈥淪ocial services are running flat out, and they鈥檙e working every day and in high-stress environments,鈥 she says. 鈥淗ow do we sustain and maintain a healthy social services sector聽when staff are burnt out after working through COVID and dealing with the long-term realities of smaller budgets?鈥

She cites domestic violence shelters as an example. 鈥淚f you have been isolating with an abuser and not able to reach out for support, when things reopen could we see a surge in domestic violence shelters, and will we be able to respond to that?鈥

What will 'the new normal' be for our most vulnerable?聽

So how do we prevent our vulnerable friends, neighbours, and family members from facing a second, prolonged crisis as we begin to create 鈥渢he new normal鈥?

One way to help will be for the government to extend access to emergency financial support programs for a period of time following a return to work, so聽those who have gone into debt to stay afloat during the pandemic will have a chance to begin to catch up.聽

鈥淭he government is going to be faced with tough decisions, and it鈥檚 often spending on programs in support of vulnerable populations that is at the low end of priorities, and it needs to be pushed up,鈥 says Kneebone.

鈥淚t鈥檚 our job to make sure that the government understands that when they think about trying to get back to stability, they can鈥檛 throw these populations under the bus. They can鈥檛 even go back to 鈥榥ormal鈥 鈥斅爐hey鈥檝e been pushed into crisis, and they aren鈥檛 going to able to climb out of it as quickly or as easily as others.鈥

Milaney, Kneebone, and the rest of the COVID-19 data task force will continue to provide recommendations to The City and the province as re-launch continues.

鈥淭he insights and inputs we have received from the 草莓污视频导航鈥檚 COVID-19 data task force have been invaluable,鈥 says Katie Black, acting general manager, Community Services Department at The City of Calgary.

鈥淔rom our first meeting less than a week after the state of local emergency was declared, we have had regular check-ins with the mayor, the chief of the Calgary Emergency Management Agency (CEMA) and others to understand what we could learn from the data around the world and in our own city. I can鈥檛 tell you what a gift it has been to sit with such bright and committed individuals who ask 鈥楬ow can we help?鈥欌

Ron Kneebone聽is a professor in the Department of Economics, Faculty of Arts and director of Economic and Social Policy Research at the School of Public Policy. 聽

Katrina Milaney聽is an assistant professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences, and member of the O鈥橞rien Institute for Public Health at the Cumming School of Medicine.

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