In my work at the Medical Center, I have witnessed the ways that policies in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic can have a more negative impact on those who have physical or cognitive disabilities, especially those whose disability may not be immediately obvious on sight.
I recently encountered a patient who was rightfully angry about the way that the policy exceptions had not been applied to her. The policy states that no patients coming to an outpatient visit may bring a visitor or companion except by the discretion of the provider. In addition, there are several standard exceptions in place. According to policy, an exception can be made for “One (1) adult to accompany the patient if physical or cognitive disability impacts their capacity to effectively participate in their medical care.” It goes on specifically to say that those who rely on a caregiver for activities of daily living may bring a caregiver with them.
This patient falls under this category, but had been repeatedly told that her caregiver was not allowed to accompany her. I went to the Medical Center’s website to see how easy it was to find the visitor exceptions and how to proceed if one were to try to get in contact with someone to make sure that they would be allowed to have the assistance that they needed and were entitled to. It takes a series of five clicks to get to the policy from the homepage of the Wexner Medical Center. Here is the visitor policy in its current form if you are interested: https://wexnermedical.osu.edu/features/coronavirus/patient-care/visitor-policy
This policy impacts every patient equally, but not equitably. Some people just want to have someone with them for their visit, and some need someone with them for their visit
Simply having a policy in place doesn’t do much good if those who are enforcing the policy do not have full knowledge of the policy, and if they are not asking the right questions. Sometimes it is very obvious that a person coming for an appointment will need assistance, but other times, it is not. In the case of this woman, I would have no way of knowing what kind of assistance she would need without asking her, and I am glad that she advocated for herself.
People with disabilities deserve to have the assistance they need to keep their healthcare productive. For this patient, this issue was a huge source of stress and anxiety about not being able to get around well enough or participate fully in her visit with the doctor. I would like to see better awareness of the policies and better conversations with patients from those who are enforcing the policies. I would like to see the doctors who care for patients who need assistance giving them the information that they need. I would like the signs and information on the website to be clearer and simpler to navigate, so that people like this woman can be sure of their rights and advocate for themselves or have their caregiver do so if necessary.
It is important for healthcare workers to learn ways to make healthcare more accessible for those who have physical and intellectual disabilities. A lack of equitable access to healthcare is not a new issue for persons with disabilities. In the video posted below, we see one of the ways that healthcare providers are trained to narrow the equity gaps for patients with disabilities.
I like this video because Mark, a man with a disability, is getting to invest in making the system work better and is making his voice heard. I think of de Beauvoir’s definition of the Other. Those with disabilities are too often defined by the ways that they are different from those who don’t have a disability. I would rather see them being defined by their worth as human beings and their equal rights to respectful and effective healthcare. I would like to see more healthcare organizations bringing people with disabilities to the table, to have influence in policies that may impact them more deeply than people in other demographics.
Here is another link that provides information on how COVID-19 is widening the equity gap for those with disabilities seeking healthcare: https://www.sideeffectspublicmedia.org/post/covid-19-makes-life-even-more-challenging-people-disabilities