Increasing access to healthcare for people with disabilities.

Abstract: Presenters discuss the processes of a community engagement and evaluation project that examines a grassroots method used to identify and remove barriers to people with disabilities in accessing healthcare at the community level. The first process starts by identifying a local disability community partner, like an independent living center. Next, a town hall meeting is held where individuals from the community who have disabilities discuss their experiences in accessing healthcare and medical services to identify barriers they experience. In the second process, the infrastructure meeting, the issues and barriers identified by the disability community along with the assets or good things about healthcare for persons with a disability are presented to their local government, hospital, clinic and transportation representatives, and disability advocates. The third process brings both the disability community and the infrastructure representatives together to discuss the prioritized barriers and identify ways to remove them, creates increased collaboration, communication and relationships, and provides a larger presence by the disability community within the local community. The presenters also talk about a “how-to” manual about putting on community engagement and disseminating the information that they are revising to focus solely on the topic of access to healthcare. Run time: 7 minutes 40 seconds.
Descriptor Terms: ACCESSIBILITY, AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS, BARRIERS, COMMUNITY INTEGRATION, COMMUNITY LIVING, HEALTH CARE, PARTICIPATORY ACTION RESEARCH, PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES.
NARIC Accession Number: O18433.  What's this?
Author(s): Drum, Charles; Bailey, Danielle.
Project Number: H133B060018.
Publisher(s): Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Measurement and Interdependence in Community Living (RRTC/MICL), The University of Kansas, 1000 Sunnyside Avenue, Room 4089, Lawrence, KS 66045-7555; 785/864-4095.
Publication Year: 2011.