We still cannot breathe: Applying intersectional ecological model to COVID-19 survivorship

Individuals with historically oppressed identities, such as disabled or racialized minorities, face inequities across all societal institutions, including education, criminal justice, and healthcare. Systems of oppression (e.g., ableism, racism) lead to inequities that have ultimately contributed to disproportionate rates of COVID-19 morbidity and mortality in the United States. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, increased public attention regarding police brutality toward Black people and the reinvigoration of the national Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement further highlighted the detrimental effects of oppressive systems and the urgent need to promote equity in the United States. The disproportionate number of COVID-19-related deaths and police brutality are inextricably connected, as both are products of oppression toward minoritized communities. The co-occurrence of the pandemic and BLM movement protests also creates an opportunity for critical discourse on the intersection of ableism and anti-Black racism specifically within the field of rehabilitation psychology.

The overarching goals of this review are to apply the Intersectional Ecological Model with the addition of the chronosystem to illustrate how systems of oppression lead to health disparity in COVID-19 survivorship and to provide recommendations to promote health equity. Conclusions/Implication: As the COVID-19 pandemic shifts to an endemic and efforts to eliminate oppressive systems continue, rehabilitation psychologists have an ongoing, evolving, and shared responsibility to employ socially-responsive solutions to promote optimal functioning for patients, families, and communities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).