Journal
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF MEDICAL QUALITY
Volume 19, Issue 5, Pages 193-200Publisher
LIPPINCOTT WILLIAMS & WILKINS
DOI: 10.1177/106286060401900503
Keywords
barriers to health care; blind; low vision; primary care
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Persons who are blind or have low vision face special challenges in obtaining care that is safe, effective, timely, and patient centered. To explore perceptions of care and recommendations for improvements, we conducted 8 interviews with experts and 2 focus groups with 19 persons, all of whom are blind or have low vision. Interviewees perceived that they confront special barriers to care because of being blind or having low vision. Barriers fell into 4 broad categories: basic respect, including concerns about physicians thinking they cannot participate fully in their own care; communication barriers, including difficulties interacting with physicians and office staff, physical access barriers, including difficulties getting to and around physicians' offices; and information barriers, including receiving written materials in inaccessible formats (eg, not in Braille, large print, or audiotape). Using common courtesy and individualized communication techniques, physicians and office staff could improve health care experiences of blind and low-vision patients.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available