Have you encountered physical and attitudinal barriers while accessing health care services?
Women with disabilities have less
access to regular screenings and doctors’ visits and therefore are at a higher
risk for many diseases such as late-stage cancer diagnoses / HIV Aids/etc.
Also, many of us have encountered barriers………….
How do you find your way to reception if you are with visual
impairment? How would you get a mammogram if you were in a wheelchair and
couldn’t stand? And how would you communicate with your doctor if you couldn’t
hear her speak?
Biggest barriers to individuals with disabilities
These barriers start with inaccessible dispensaries, clinics and
doctors’ offices and continue into medical equipment and—worst of
all—attitudes. Once the women get in to see a doctor, many find their
health care providers want to attribute all their problems to their
disability.
Anjlee Agarwal has progressive muscular dystrophy and faced
several challenges in clinics and hospitals.
-
a steep slope instead of ramps
-
no accessible toilets
-
reception and medicine counters are so
high you cannot see the person on the other side
-
notice and information boards are on
glass panels and are impossible to read
Abha Khetrapal with lost polio syndrome says “there are no suitably adapted tables
for gynaecological examinations”.
List is endless!
Aside from the structural and attitudinal challenges, women with
disabilities face a higher risk for violence and other discriminatory behaviors,
the trauma from which can make simple medical procedures (like that mammogram/)
more distressing, particularly when communication is a challenge.
Then what do you do?
So how can we make our health care more inclusive?
Spread awareness and SPEAK OUT. Do your bit by informing the
management/ authorities about your difficulties. Women with disabilities have
to become SELF-ADVOCATES. But many a
time women with disabilities do not inform that ‘they are disabled and will not
ask for assistance if something complicated happen.”
It is essential that the medical
practitioners and support staff should be trained to understand and deal with
disability specific requirements of women with disabilities.
“Women with disabilities are a heterogeneous group and are
found in every community and all they need is support to represent themselves”.
Author:
Dr. Anjlee Agarwal (Ph.D.) (She/Her)
National Awardee, 2003
Universal Accessibility and Mobility Specialist
Co-founder Executive Director
In Special Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic & Social Council, 2015
NITI-CSO-Standing Committee, NITI Aayog, Government of India
Bureau of Indian Standards, Government of India
Indian Roads Congress, Government of India
Transport Research Board, USA
Bureau of Indian Standards, Government of India
Indian Roads Congress, Government of India
Transport Research Board, USA
Empaneled Accessibility Auditor: Government of India
