Disablism in the lives of people living with a chronic illness in England and PortugalThis paper is based on research about the daily lives of people living with chronic illnesses in England and Portugal. Through the first-person narratives of participants, I argue that the lives of people living with debilitating chronic illnesses are affected by disablism, discrimination and exclusion. These aspects affect them in several important realms of life such as lack of or poor social support, difficulties in obtaining reasonable adjustments or the inability to obtain any kind of state support at all. These aspects are also widespread and compound and greatly influence their lives, beyond or in addition to the physical experience of the illness itself. I conclude that it is fundamental to change these structural and policy aspects and that people should have access to what I have termed a paradigm of sustained wellbeing, despite the illness.
The coronavirus pandemic necessitated rapid, radical changes to global systems, structures, and organisations across all areas of life, including education, healthcare, and social services. These changes were something of a double‐edged sword. On the one hand, widespread adoption of the kinds of remote‐working technologies long advocated for by disabled people opened up possibilities for inclusion. On the other, some people’s inability to access such technologies, together with increased social isolation, exacerbated forms of exclusion. This thematic issue considers what lessons can be learned from the pandemic in striving to design a future which is more inclusive for all. In this editorial, we provide a brief overview of some of the major challenges the pandemic created for disabled people, who were disproportionately negatively affected by it. We also suggest that a disability rights lens is a useful way of highlighting both the contingency of disability and the need for more responsive and humane healthcare systems. The editorial goes on to outline the opportunities to challenge entrenched ableism and create a “new normal” the pandemic afforded. It concludes by offering a thematic overview of the articles in this thematic issue, which together reveal a complex pattern of inclusions and exclusions, interdependence, and intersectionality.
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