Accessibility and inclusion in healthcare

Nas Campanella is a high-profile public media identity whose experience of being a blind patient provides a first-hand account of the access and inclusion challenges she faced within the healthcare system. Facing early childhood memories which involved countless hospital visits, she remembers needles, cannulas and feeling incredibly anxious about going into the operating theatre. That was, until the day that she stopped and said, I’ll do this (surgery) if it is my last. Nas wanted to live a happy life and to live her life blind. She wasn’t interested in cures, or medical procedures, because being blind is part of who she is. It is common for healthcare providers to see patients with a disability through a medical treatment lens, focusing on fixing or curing the ‘issue’. The concept that a patient with a disability isn't necessarily seeking a cure for a problem is often difficult to understand for healthcare professionals, who go into medicine to make people better. Nas’s experience taught her a lot about accessibility requirements in healthcare. The way information is provided, can make a crucial difference to a patient's decision-making and their outcomes. There is often a need for very simple explanations about how something is going to work. Remembering to not just explain in words, but to take a blind person's hand and trace it around a diagram. Nas encourages us to involve people with accessibility needs in their own care and to not just talk to careers and family members. At least 4.4 million people in Australia live with a disability. Understanding how to provide better care for this population is a crucial step towards achieving equitable accessibility and inclusion for patients with a disability.

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