Working life during the Covid-19 pandemic: social participation, learning experiences, design opportunities and future work life for people with disabilities

As previously known, people with various disabilities are not included in the labor market and are not fully involved in working life.The overall aim of the project is to explore in what ways the experiences gained from the Covid-19 pandemic can contribute to improve the conditions for people with various forms of disabilities (our stakeholders) to participate in and contribute to working life.

We will explore short-term and potential long-term effects and consequences of working from home in digital settings and what new meanings of social participation, and conditions for participation that have arisen.

There is tacit (practical) knowledge and experiences of people with various disabilities that are about participation, influence and democracy in working life that we know little about.

The research project, which is based on user participation (including research), will investigate participation and restrictions on participation in working life.

The project is characterized by action research and design research, which implies that the knowledge generated will also result in new proposals on how working life for people with disabilities can be organised and facilitated. A comprehensive literature review will be conducted in the initial phase of the project.

Data collecting methods are interviews and collaborative workshops with stakeholders in disability organisations and patient organisations. All activities carried out within the project will assume an intersectional perspective. The main applicant is a well-known researcher in social work and disability research.

Co-applicants are well-known researchers in the field of interaction design and communication.

The applicants together constitute an interdisciplinary group consisting of senior researchers at two universities and a research institute.