Supporting people with disability
Supporting people with disability to access health services is essential to inclusive health care.
SMHS is committed to ensuring that people living with disability, their families and carers have the same access to our facilities, services and information as other members of the community in accordance with the Disability Services Act 1993 (external site).
Read how SMHS reinforces its commitment to providing a moreaccessible and inclusive health service (external site) for people with disability, their families and carers.
The resources below are available to help people with disability navigate the health system and prepare for a hospital admission.
Resources
Patient First
The Patient First program (external site) helps patients, carers and their families understand essential parts of the health care journey including:
- Your rights and responsibilities as a patient (Healthy WA)
- Preparing for your stay in hospital (Healthy WA)
- Giving informed consent in hospital (Healthy WA)
- During your hospital stay (Healthy WA)
- Going home after a stay in hospital (Healthy WA).
Empowering health consumers with disabilities resources
The Health Consumers' Council WA (external site) and People with Disabilities (WA) (external site) have produced booklets and videos to assist people with disability to navigate the health system and prepare for a hospital admission including:
- outlining health care rights
- where to go for help
- key considerations across the entire hospital journey.
Access these resources (external site).
Take 5 video
TheTake 5 video (external site) released by the Disability Health Network (external site) features patients with disability explaining what inclusive health care looks like, why it is important and their experiences interacting with the health system.
The video was launched at the 2019 International Day of People with Disability event organised by the Disability Health Network in partnership with SMHS.