Kara Sheridan, one of the bloggers who recently hosted the Disability Carnival, has written a great article on the health care system and how women with disabilities fare in it. It's published in the November 2007 issue of New Mobility and I've provided a link , but you need a subscription to the magazine to read the entire article. You can get a subscription at their site if you'd like.
I highly recommend this article - Kara did interviews with women of all ages and occupations - including a female medical student named Bliss Temple who uses a wheelchair and "designed a curriculum on health and disability for medical professionals".
One of the women interviewed, Stacy Milbern, talks about how accessible exam tables, which she's heard about, seem to be a myth. Another woman discusses the assumption that she needs therapy because she uses a wheelchair. And she speaks of professionals whom she's consulted who tell her that their office doesn't need to be accessible because they don't have a specialty in treating people with disabilities.
Getting into the waiting room or examining room is still an issue for those of us in wheelchairs, not to mention dealing with the attitude of some staff members who expect us to bring someone along, Kara points out. And these barriers, attitudinal and those involving access, keep us from getting adequate health care.
Clearly a great deal of advocacy is still needed in this area.
1 comment:
I liked this article too. I've really run into lots of access issues over the years and am glad to see the magazine publishing articles about this topic.
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