Towards participatory and inclusive emergency management: the role of Deaf volunteers in crisis communication in Wuhan during the COVID-19 pandemic

Adopting a community-based participatory approach, and drawing on in-depth interviews with Deaf volunteers from a major local community-based public interest group, this study examines the role of Deaf volunteers in providing accessible communication for deaf people during the 76-day lockdown in Wuhan in 2020 after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our study shows that challenges confronting deaf people during the pandemic include barriers to accessing information, barriers to communicating with stakeholders (disability authorities, shequ workers, volunteers, and health professionals), as well as compound disadvantage caused by communication barriers, financial devastation, and quarantine. Our study demonstrates the critical role of Deaf volunteers in providing emergency services tailored to specific needs of the deaf community, empowering more disadvantaged deaf people in emergency response and resilience building, raising the awareness of accessible communication among stakeholders, and taking an active role in post-disaster research. For this reason, the study calls for a shift from a top-down emergency management approach to a participatory and inclusive approach that actively involves deaf people in designing and implementing plans tailored to specific needs of deaf communities in emergency settings.