Amber Smith is the Disability Inclusion Program Lead at Ambulance Victoria. As a Paramedic and public health practitioner, Amber’s more than 20-year career includes working across health, emergency and government settings. This includes establishing Disability Liaison Officer and Safeguarding Care programs, developing Disability Action Plans and leading health improvement projects. Amber’s recent collaboration with Scope Australia reflects a shared passion for co-design to build the capabilities of the emergency healthcare workforce to positively impact equitable patient experiences and outcomes.
Best Care for People with Communication Disabilities: Communication Accessible Emergency Health
Ms Amber Smith1
1Scope, Hawthorn, Australia
Abstract
Best Care for People with Communication Disabilities aims to enhance communication between health professionals and patients during medical emergencies and ensure that the patient journey is communication accessible. One in five Australians has a disability but only 24% of adults with disability experience very good health, compared with 65% of adults without disability (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2019). People with disability need to engage more often with mainstream health services than those without disability with 26% visiting a hospital emergency department and 22% being hospitalised in every year. Poor communication leads to poor health outcomes for people with communication disabilities. Everyone should be able to make their own healthcare decisions and understand the information that is presented to them about their healthcare. Scope have worked with their valued partners (Ambulance Victoria; LaTrobe Regional Health; St Vincent’s Hospital; Two Way Street and South Australia Ambulance Service) to develop training and communication resources to enhance communication access across the patient journey in emergency health. A co-design approach to the development of resources and training has been implemented and people with disabilities have played a major role. This project, funded by the Department of Social Services through an Information, Linkages and Capacity Building grant, commenced in 2020 and has endured the unique challenges presented by the global pandemic. This presentation will outline the stages of the project; showcase the communication tools and training developed; and bring the personal stories of people with a disability and paramedics to life.