The COVID-19 pandemic shows us how important healthcare is for every person in Ontario and around the world. In addition, the pandemic has emphasized the many barriers that already exist in the Ontario healthcare system for patients with disabilities. AODA healthcare standards could prevent and remove these barriers, and ensure that all Ontarians access the care they need. For instance, AODA guidelines for accessible transportation in healthcare could prevent or remove some of the barriers Ontario patients face.
Accessible Transportation in Healthcare
AODA healthcare standards should remove the barriers in specialized transit that limit patient access to healthcare. In addition, guidelines in these standards should ensure that programs providing patient transport do not contain barriers.
For example, a recent article describes a program to transport Waterloo seniors and adults with disabilities to receive COVID-19 vaccines. This program could help many people who have limited access to this vital healthcare service. However, the program did not use accessible vehicles, and required passengers to enter and exit vehicles without assistance. As a result, passengers using assistive devices, or passengers needing support, could not benefit from this program.
The article explains that the city of Waterloo is developing solutions to remove this accessibility barrier. For instance, the city may partner with accessible cab or specialized transit companies. This partnership would remove the physical barrier of inaccessible vehicles. However, an organizational barrier remains.
Organizational barriers happen because program creators have not thought about how clients with disabilities would access their services. In this case, the city of Waterloo did not recognize that their transport program would exclude many people with physical disabilities. Moreover, these excluded people may be most at risk of contracting COVID-19. Therefore, it is crucial to ensure that programs designed to protect people’s health also meet their accessibility needs.
Healthcare standards under the AODA could include guidelines that prevent organizational barriers in transportation. For instance, standards could require that organizational programs to transport patients must take those patients’ accessibility needs into account. As a result, organizations planning patient transit programs would consider accessibility at the beginning of the planning process. In this way, patients of all abilities could have the same chance to travel and receive critical forms of care.