Access to health information for persons with disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic in Kenya

Abstract

This study explores the effectiveness of media in promoting access to COVID-19 health information in Kenya. The focus will be on how persons with disabilities accessed COVID-19 information through television within the first three months of the outbreak of the pandemic in Kenya. The quantitative study sampled three television stations in Kenya namely KTN News Television, Signs TV and KBC Television. Data was collected from the television stations between April and June 2020. Further, a survey of 100 persons with disabilities was conducted to triangulate study findings. The data gathered was analysed descriptively. Findings indicate that, although television was a popular medium in transmitting COVID-19 information, it didn’t employ accessible formats as is required by local and international legal provisions. The authors recommend that a more disability inclusive approach to the COVID-19 health information dissemination in the media be adopted. Further, media regulators such as the Communications Authority of Kenya and the Media Council of Kenya, are encouraged to enforce the legal provision to include accessible formats on television.