Some people with disabilities may have greater risk of contracting COVID-19 or experiencing worse outcomes if infected. Although COVID-19 is a genuine threat for people with disabilities, they also fear decisions that might limit lifesaving treatment should they contract the virus. During a pandemic, health systems must manage excess demand for treatment, and governments must enact heavy restrictions on their citizens to prevent transmission. Both actions can have a negative impact on people with disabilities. Ironically, the sociotechnical advances prompted by this pandemic could also revolutionize quality of life and participation for people with disabilities. Preparation for future disasters requires careful consideration. (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print October 15, 2020: e1–e6. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2020.305890 )

Introduction: Engaging citizens and patients as research partners is receiving increasing emphasis across disciplines, because citizens are untapped resources for solving complex problems. Occupational therapists are engaging in inclusive research, but not always in equitable partnership. Moving beyond inclusive research to a dignified framework for research prioritises lived experience and human rights in health research.Methods: Using nominal group technique over a series of three working group meetings, eight experts, including three with lived experience of disability and research, prioritised principles and steps for conducting dignified rehabilitation research in partnership with citizens with disability. Findings: Embedding transparency, accessibility and inclusion, dignified language, and authenticity throughout research were integral to maintaining dignity and safety for citizens with disability engaged in research. The Dignity Project Framework encompasses five phases, namely, (1) vision, (2) uncover, (3) discuss, (4) critical reflection, and (5) change, which address the prominent criticisms of the disability community about research and embed the principles of importance into research practice. Conclusion:The framework builds on inclusive research frameworks to a human rights-based, dignified framework for extreme citizen science. Grounding disability in contemporary conceptualisations and providing a method for democratising knowledge production provide occupational therapists with a method for dignified partnership with citizens with disability.

This article reviews the research evidence on vocational rehabilitation services and rehabilitation counselling practice with Indigenous Australians. It applied a context sensitive, cultural safety and reflexivity approach to construct salient themes from the research evidence. Findings suggest Indigenous Australians with disabilities experience significant ‘double-disadvantage’, and that vocational rehabilitation service providers lack the knowledge and skills in culturally safe practice in order to enhance the opportunities for social and economic inclusion of Indigenous Australians. A whole-of-profession approach, incorporating and ensuring Indigenous client equity and cultural safety in vocational rehabilitation, is critically and urgently needed.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Management establish the importance of ensuring the equitable protection of human rights in disaster planning, relief, and recovery. However, internationally and within Australia, the reality is one of indignity, human rights violations, and corruption. Australia is living in a perpetual state of crisis, following 3years of environmental and health disaster events. Vulnerable Australian citizens, especially people with disability, are at a great risk of human rights violations and may have restricted access to resilience-building resources that would enable them to recover. Embedding dignity into disaster management and recovery can safeguard human rights and improve outcomes for people with disability.

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