Disability Issues
Dr Christine Peta
CARE and support can be difficult to access, unaffordable or poorly suited to individual needs.
As demand for care grows, persons with disabilities, their families and care workers are calling for services that uphold dignity, personal choice and decent working conditions.
On October 29, Zimbabwe will observe the United Nations International Day of Care and Support, which highlights the vital role care and support systems play in communities everywhere.
This year, the national conversation must prioritise the needs and rights of persons with disabilities alongside the individuals who support them.
A person with a disability may require assistance with everyday tasks such as bathing, dressing, travelling to work or communicating with others.
However, suitable personal assistance and accessible transport are frequently unavailable or prohibitively expensive, forcing families in some communities to travel long distances just to access basic healthcare and support services.
Care is a central part of daily life, yet the responsibility is rarely shared equally.
Women, in particular, are disproportionately affected, often reducing their working hours or leaving the workforce entirely to provide unpaid care for children, partners or older relatives with disabilities at the expense of their own income, health and career opportunities.
For individuals residing in residential facilities, rigid institutional routines often restrict personal freedom.
Residents may be forced to wake up, bathe, eat or sleep at set times regardless of their preferences, with limited say over their meals, social activities or free time.
Basic actions like leaving the facility, visiting friends or using personal belongings like cellphones may require staff permission.
When persons with disabilities are excluded from decisions regarding their own care, their privacy, independence and fundamental dignity are severely compromised.
The expanding care economy presents a crucial opportunity to reimagine how societies support persons with disabilities and their caregivers.
For many, receiving appropriate support marks the difference between social exclusion and full community participation.
True care must never strip away a person’s autonomy.
Support services should respect individual choice and privacy and be designed directly with persons with disabilities rather than imposed upon them.
Achieving this requires accessible healthcare and social services, inclusive education, assistive technologies and reliable personal assistance that enables people to live independently.
At the same time, care workers require decent, equitable conditions.
Formal caregivers and domestic workers frequently encounter low wages, job insecurity, long hours and inadequate protection against injury or abuse, while unpaid family carers receive minimal practical or financial relief.
These harsh realities harm caregivers and directly compromise the quality and continuity of care provided.
Investing in accessible, affordable care services can transform the lives of persons with disabilities while simultaneously generating fair employment opportunities.
Guaranteeing fair pay, proper training, social security and safe conditions for workers, combined with respite services and flexible work arrangements for families, is essential.
Employers, trade unions, service providers and local communities must collaborate to build an inclusive system.
Workplaces need to offer reasonable accommodations and ensure employees with caregiving responsibilities are supported rather than driven out of employment.
Furthermore, care services must be developed through meaningful consultations with persons with disabilities and their representative organisations.
As the care economy grows driven by aging populations, shifting family structures and rising demand, its impact on reducing or deepening inequality depends on immediate policy choices.
On this International Day of Care and Support, the priority remains clear: a fair care system must be accessible, adequately funded and rooted in dignity, treating quality support not as a luxury, but as a fundamental right necessary for equality and full independence.
Dr Christine Peta is a disability, public health, policy, international development and research expert. She can be contacted on: [email protected]
