Protect yourself from COVID-19

No matter what part of the world you are living in, the threat of coronavirus or COVID-19 is very real.If you, or someone you know, is dealing with a physical disability, its important to take additional care to protect yourself from the Coronavirus because of your immunocompromised status. 

In today’s digital world, it is much easier to practice social distancing and perform day to day tasks from the comfort of your home. Stay protected from the coronavirus outbreak with these top coronavirus recommendations for the disabled.

If you are looking for the best recommendations to help you stay protected without having to rely on additional support, use technology to your advantage. You can find a wide variety of coronavirus recommendations for the disabled suggested by experts in the medical and infectious diseases fields by simply searching popular search engines. There are a ton of great resources with tips for protecting yourself including our own blog post.

To help make things easy, we’ve collected a set of recommendations that can help you stay protected from coronavirus:

• Maintain personal hygiene and continuously wash your hands
• Ask your direct support provider and caretakers if they are experiencing any symptoms of COVID-19 before they visit your home
•  Request that your direct service provider wear a mask or face shield, wash their hands frequently and clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces
•  Plan what you will do if you or your direct support provider gets sick and you have to self-quarantine
•  Plan at least two ways of communicating from home and work
• Have enough household items, groceries, medicine and supplies such as catheters with you to last you 2-3 weeks in the event that you must self-quarantine or your caretaker can’t make it to your house for any reason
• Maintain social distancing when visiting outdoors and always wear your mask for added safety

In case you have been experiencing symptoms of coronavirus, it is very important that you get quick support from the healthcare professionals and get tested. Coronavirus can be treated effectively if you are diagnosed early and get you healthcare providers involved.

Top Tips for Wheelchair Travellers

Whether you are new to traveling with disability or have experience exploring the world on your own, travel can be very challenging sometimes, especially if you have any physical disabilities. The world is just not designed optimally for those of us who have a disability. This is why we have collected some tips for wheelchair travel to help you plan the ultimate wheelchair accessible vacation. Many of these tips are useful for those who have any kind of disability, not just those who are wheelchair users. 

Plan with your personal accessibility requirements TOP of mind 

When planning to travel to a foreign place as someone with a physical disability, one of the best and most obvious tips for wheelchair travel is to plan as much as you can ahead of time. This means, you should research the destination, speak with the airlines, call ahead to the hotel and find accessible places to eat & explore. Keep your device equipped with apps that can help you navigate accessible destinations. You can use the iAccess Life app as a platform to share your experiences while you travel so that others might know before they go. 

Understand your rights

It is very important that you are aware of your rights, especially when traveling to a foreign place. You never know what situation you may face in a foreign place, so we recommend you learn everything you can about your rights under the accessibility laws of a particular. Whether you are dealing with an airline, hotel or restaurant staff, you should always pick places where you have equal access rights and unfortunately, most countries aren’t as advanced as the United States when it comes to accessibility legislature. 

Get medical insurance

You already know that because you have a physical disability, you may or may not need medical attention in a foreign place (depending on your disability). Finding and paying for medical care in another country can be quite an expensive experience. This is why it’s important to be prepared with a well-defined medical insurance plan catered toward travel abroad so you can opt for immediate medical support without any additional expenses or burden on your pocket. Make sure to read all the terms and conditions of the medical insurance before signing the agreement.

Hire a travel agent

One of the best tips for wheelchair travel is to hire a professional and reliable travel agent with experience booking accessible travel experiences. Find someone who can guide you with the best advice to make your travel as comfortable an experience as possible. These experts can also arrange special support for you in case you need any. 

We encourage you ALL to trudge ahead, travel the world, and to be mindful of these tips for wheelchair travel, dedicated to help make traveling a better experience.