Introduction
There are various groups of individuals who are stigmatized by culture. These groups can be stigmatized by disease, religion, or race to name a few. Understanding these groups better helps maximize the care they receive in the hospitals and how they are treated as human beings. One of the more popular stigmas present in the healthcare field is impaired vision. This is a problem that affects millions of people in the U.S each year. It might not seem as extreme as the some of the other stigmas but it is equally important because of the sheer amount of Americans that it affects. There are special agencies that help visually impaired individuals and grant them easy access to healthcare. There are also agencies that help eliminate …show more content…
They dug deep into the questions and concerns of the visually impaired, examining problems visually impaired individuals faced each day. Various participants stated that “For blind people, there are serious problems with different packaging of the same medicine from different suppliers” (2010, Mhairi Thurston, Allen Thurston). The variable in packaging is a very serious potential calamity for the blind (2010, Mhairi Thurston, Allen Thurston). Other participants released statements talking about the struggles of a hospital visit. They reported difficulty with appointment notifications, saying that no accommodations were made for them to make sure they knew the details of the appointment. Another individual released a statement saying “Signage in hospitals is not suitable for blind and partially sighted people” (2010, Mhairi Thurston, Allen Thurston). Another individual said it was hard to read the instructions on what to do before a colonoscopy, and yet another stated that there was reported embarrassment at relying on others to read the results of more sensitive procedures, such as sexually transmitted infections. “Overall, there was general dissatisfaction with hospitals’ ability to cater for blind and partially sighted patients” (2010, Mhairi Thurston, Allen …show more content…
It is present in both the healthcare field and within employment. Research has been done over the years to understand and correct any problems that have arisen with this stigma. Results have been good and bad. With employment, visually impaired individuals have shown the competency to perform at most job sites with adequacy even though most people would assume they would fail. And then there is the healthcare field. This is an area of struggle for the visually impaired because I think that most people don’t take the time to think of the minor or major accommodations needed for people with poor visual acuity. Most visually impaired patients voiced their opinion about how hard it was to read signs within the facility or even read the names on their medication bottles. The sad part is that most of these clients are too embarrassed to speak up when they are struggling. This means that there is a problem with the visually impaired in hospitals but it might not be addressed quickly because of the embarrassment factor with the patients themselves. It is important for the hospitals to learn to adapt for each individual and only time will tell if that will be successful. It is the duty of the healthcare team to adjust according to their patient and therefore, are held responsible for the success of the adjustment. In the end, every patient is going to be different, and giving them the
There are various groups of individuals who are stigmatized by culture. These groups can be stigmatized by disease, religion, or race to name a few. Understanding these groups better helps maximize the care they receive in the hospitals and how they are treated as human beings. One of the more popular stigmas present in the healthcare field is impaired vision. This is a problem that affects millions of people in the U.S each year. It might not seem as extreme as the some of the other stigmas but it is equally important because of the sheer amount of Americans that it affects. There are special agencies that help visually impaired individuals and grant them easy access to healthcare. There are also agencies that help eliminate …show more content…
They dug deep into the questions and concerns of the visually impaired, examining problems visually impaired individuals faced each day. Various participants stated that “For blind people, there are serious problems with different packaging of the same medicine from different suppliers” (2010, Mhairi Thurston, Allen Thurston). The variable in packaging is a very serious potential calamity for the blind (2010, Mhairi Thurston, Allen Thurston). Other participants released statements talking about the struggles of a hospital visit. They reported difficulty with appointment notifications, saying that no accommodations were made for them to make sure they knew the details of the appointment. Another individual released a statement saying “Signage in hospitals is not suitable for blind and partially sighted people” (2010, Mhairi Thurston, Allen Thurston). Another individual said it was hard to read the instructions on what to do before a colonoscopy, and yet another stated that there was reported embarrassment at relying on others to read the results of more sensitive procedures, such as sexually transmitted infections. “Overall, there was general dissatisfaction with hospitals’ ability to cater for blind and partially sighted patients” (2010, Mhairi Thurston, Allen …show more content…
It is present in both the healthcare field and within employment. Research has been done over the years to understand and correct any problems that have arisen with this stigma. Results have been good and bad. With employment, visually impaired individuals have shown the competency to perform at most job sites with adequacy even though most people would assume they would fail. And then there is the healthcare field. This is an area of struggle for the visually impaired because I think that most people don’t take the time to think of the minor or major accommodations needed for people with poor visual acuity. Most visually impaired patients voiced their opinion about how hard it was to read signs within the facility or even read the names on their medication bottles. The sad part is that most of these clients are too embarrassed to speak up when they are struggling. This means that there is a problem with the visually impaired in hospitals but it might not be addressed quickly because of the embarrassment factor with the patients themselves. It is important for the hospitals to learn to adapt for each individual and only time will tell if that will be successful. It is the duty of the healthcare team to adjust according to their patient and therefore, are held responsible for the success of the adjustment. In the end, every patient is going to be different, and giving them the