Question

You are evaluating a patient who is blind and has recently had a hip replacement. You want to give them a handout to take home outlining their precautions. You do not have access to alternative formats for health care information such as braille text or audio book. This is an example of which of the following categories of health care access barriers encountered by persons with disabilities?

1) Personal and cultural
2) Structural
3) Environmental
4) Communication

Answer 1

The inability to provide a handout in an accessible format to a blind patient represents a communication barrier to health care access, which should be addressed under the Americans with Disabilities Act's requirement for reasonable accommodations.

Step-by-step explanation:

The scenario described is an example of a communication barrier within the health care access barriers encountered by persons with disabilities. This category refers to the obstacles that prevent information from being effectively transmitted to the patient due to their disability, in this case, blindness. Since the patient cannot utilize the written handout due to the lack of alternative formats like braille text or audio, it demonstrates a failure in communication that effectively excludes the patient from receiving important post-operative care information.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) emphasizes the need for reasonable accommodations to be made for individuals with disabilities. Without these accommodations, such as braille or audio book options, there is a direct barrier to accessibility that can impact a patient’s ability to manage their health and wellness effectively.