This week’s module discussed difficulties faced when
accessing equitable healthcare, from the perspective of families and clients
who are either disabled, disadvantaged, vulnerable, and/or stigmatised. Key
topics included: government incentives promoting health equity for people with
disabilities; historical stories of gross marginalisation of people with
physical disabilities; correlation between intellectual disability and poorer
health outcomes; caring for hearing and sight impaired; disadvantaged and
vulnerable groups; human rights issues and stigmatic views related to ageism,
sexual orientation and mental illness. Four interviews relating to
person-centred care were also included.
The first interviewee, Leeanne, speaks about her role
as carer for her son who has cerebral palsy, and how difficult it is to attend
healthcare appointments without availability of mobile transfer resources. The
second interviewee, Trudy, discusses how nurses can reduce stigma in mental
health. The third interviewee was Kay Stepnay, who speaks of her experiences as
a nurse and member of the lesbian community. The fourth interviewee, Kay, talks
about how her disability has impacted her life. Overall, each interviewee
highlights how nurses must not discriminate or make presumptions in order to
reduce stigma; and to treat everybody with kindness, dignity and respect. All
four interviewees advised nurses to simply treat clients how you would like to
be treated under similar circumstances.
I have learned that historically, people with
disabilities were grossly marginalised, institutionalised and generally treated
as inferior human beings (Stefánsdóttir & Traustadóttir, 2015). I actually
became overwhelmed with emotion when I read about Ann McDonald (Crossley &
McDonald, 2010), and how she proved to the misconceived world that when
vulnerable people with disabilities are given opportunities to participate and
take control over their care, they can achieve remarkable feats. I have also
learned that the government has since developed the Disability Discrimination Act ([1992] Australian Human Rights
Commission, 2016) and subsequent advocacy groups, in order to provide equal
opportunity to people with disabilities - via a person-centred approach,
underpinned by community engagement. The National
Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) Act (2013), and its recent
implementation, is one such health equity initiative that seeks to connect
existing services to people with disabilities (NDIS, 2013).
Overall, I understand that in order to reduce
stigma, it is essential to treat all people as individuals, and to never stereotype
or discriminate. As a nurse, I will endeavour to provide person-centred care,
and always consider the client as the expert, despite their condition or
disability. I will not make presumptions and will instead seek to provide
individualised care based on my clients’ specific needs; through non-judgement,
established trust, open communication and mutual respect.
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