By Tommy Leung
When someone needs to access health care services, they may already be feeling unwell or anxious. For people living with sight loss, accessibility barriers can make the experience more stressful.
A patient who is blind or has low vision might be handed a paper form to complete without being asked whether they need assistance or given a paper number they can’t read and then expected to know when it is called. Even finding the washroom can be difficult when signage or directions are not accessible.
The CNIB BC Advocacy Committee, a group of volunteers with lived experience, regularly hears from people across the province who have encountered accessibility barriers when accessing health care services.
Next March, the committee will have an opportunity to raise awareness about these issues with health care providers from across BC at Health Quality BC’s annual forum, taking place in Vancouver.
The committee will deliver a one-hour presentation about the experiences and needs of people with sight loss and ways health care services can become more accessible. As we prepare for the presentation, we want to hear from British Columbians who are blind, Deafblind, or have low vision about their experiences navigating the health care system.
If you’ve experienced accessibility barriers when accessing health care, found solutions that have worked well, or have ideas about how services could be more accessible, we invite you to complete our survey and share your experience with us.
This information will help strengthen our presentation and give us a better understanding of the common barriers people experience and the solutions they have found when accessing health care.
Together, we can help make health care in BC more accessible, inclusive, and equitable for everyone. If you have questions or suggestions, email tommy.leung@cnib.ca.