New Mobility Shows Healthcare Access Problems

You would think that healthcare facilities would be the most accessible for persons with disabilities.  You would be wrong.  New Mobility magazine highlights some of the problems locating accessing healthcare at http://www.newmobility.com/articleViewIE.cfm?id=11897.  

One problem is that healthcare providers think in terms of “helping” and not accommodating.  In the case of the woman looking for a mammogram, helping was no help at all.  Other times, “helping”, especially when it takes the form of lifting, can be dangerous, both for the patient and the staff.  If a patient that is being lifted has a full-body spasm, he or she can take out three people!  The result could be a workers’ compensation suit, and ADA suit and a malpractice suit.  I guarantee that would cost a lot more than an accessible table and proper lifting equipment.

Annette Bourbonniere

www.accessing-ability.com

401-846-1960

Fax:  401-846-1944

Twitter:  @AccessInclude

Taxi Please!

Why does it have to be so difficult to enforce the federal Americans with Disabilities Act?

In New York City, the city agency that governs taxis doesn’t think that having more accessible taxis is worth enforcing.  http://www.newmobility.com/articleViewIE.cfm?id=11939

Not only would requiring taxi companies to make all new taxis wheelchair accessible not cost the city a single dime, it would save the city significant money since it would reduce the dependence on the Access-a-Ride that is funded by the city.

So, what is the resistance?  This resistance is widespread and truthfully makes no sense. 

Businesses resist providing access since they never look at the benefits, only the costs.  But the truth is that state and city governments turn a blind eye to access issues on a regular basis also.  This blind eye is not only toward their own access responsibilities, but cities are consistently unwilling to enforce access laws in their communities.

A question that all state and city governments should ask is whether they would tolerate discrimination toward any other minority.  Or, would they tolerate businesses that put out signs saying that persons with disabilities are not allowed in?  If they would not tolerate discrimination toward other minorities or businesses that put out signs that verbalize their discrimination toward people with disabilities, they should not tolerate discriminatory actions or omissions.

Annette Bourbonniere

www.accessing-ability.com

401-846-1960

Fax:  401-846-1944

Twitter:  @AccessInclude

Surgeon Misses the Point in this Lesson

A story about how a surgeon learned about communicating directly with his patient http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2011/06/surgeon-point-communicate-patient.html has lessons that were missed.

The surgeon who referred to the patient as “mentally retarded” is from South Africa, where that language may or may not still be acceptable.  In the US it is not. 

However, the bigger lesson is that he really did the right thing, even though he was never convinced of that.  He brushed aside the information being offered by the father when he first met them, making it clear that he preferred to speak with the patient directly.  The surgeon then felt he had painted himself into the corner when he realized the young man had an intellectual disability.  He continually referred to the patient’s limitations and, frankly, seemed to have a very low expectation of that patient.

What the surgeon never realized, even after the father thanked him for respecting his son, was that persons with disabilities often have far more capability than we credit them with and this was an example of that.  The most important thing for healthcare providers to recognize is that they should always communicate directly with their patients.  Patients will understand at their own levels.  Only if decisions are to be made and the patient has not been able to communicate understanding at his or her level should others be brought into the conversation.  Unfortunately, this doctor was focused on his own relief that he was not chastised for brushing off the father. 

He accidentally did the right thing.  Now, if we could only get him to realize that.

Annette Bourbonniere

www.accessing-ability.com

401-846-1960

Fax:  401-846-1944

Twitter:  @AccessInclude