Episodic disabilities

It’s estimated that approximately 65,000 Canadians are living with HIV. Thanks to better drug treatments, many people with HIV are now living longer and with a better quality of life.

HIV is often referred to as an “episodic disability”. That’s because periods of good health may be interrupted by periods of illness or disability. Often it is difficult to predict when these “episodes” of disability will occur or how long they will last.

These issues are not unique to HIV. Increasing numbers of Canadians are living with lifelong episodic disabilities. These include multiple sclerosis, lupus, arthritis, cancer, diabetes and mental and mood disorders.

People with episodic disabilities face significant employment and income support issues. Recurring periods of ill health make it difficult to work, especially full-time. Most people with episodic disabilities must rely on health and disability benefits. And due to the strict definitions and policies that govern these benefit programs, many people are not able to participate in the workforce part-time or when their health allows.

The Canadian Working Group on HIV and Rehabilitation (CWGHR) is a leader in research and advocacy in this field. Under CWGHR’s leadership, the Episodic Disabilities Network was established to bring together a variety of disability communities to work on these shared issues.

"COLLABORATING FOR CAPACITY: Towards an Integrated Approach to Episodic Disabilities" is one of CWGHR's initiatives on episodic disabilities.

“SOLUTIONS FOR CHANGE: Responding to the needs of Ontarians with Episodic Disabilities” is CWGHR’s current initiative on episodic disabilities at the provincial level. In early 2009, CWGHR was awarded a two-year grant by the Ontario Trillium Foundation to create a provincial episodic disability Information and Referral Centre and an Ontario Episodic Disabilities Network (OEDN) to identify and respond to provincial issues and needs from a cross-disability perspective. These initiatives build on CWGHR’s work on episodic disabilities at the national level, including the important work of the National Episodic Disabilities Network (EDN).

 

This section of the website will provide you with information on:

• the challenges faced by people with episodic disabilities
• the issue of employment and income support
• CWGHR research on these issues, and
• the Episodic Disabilities Network