Name: Breaking barriers in healthcare: enhancing accessibility for people with disabilities
Uploaded: 2023-09-06T23:55:28.572Z
Duration: 519.3

Katherine Kelly Edited.mp4

Katherine Kelly Edited.vtt

Subtitles

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And one of the things that

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told us that that was really

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successful is that lots of the

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people who were supported by

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the team to access their first

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vaccination actually went

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and independently accessed

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their second, third subsequent

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vaccinations without that

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same level of support.

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So we knew that the work

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that had been done upfront

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was really empowering

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people, to access that

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service on their own.

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Hi, my name's Catherine Kelly.

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I'm the disability and NDIS

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coordinator for Southwestern

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Sydney Local Health

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District in New South Wales.

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I'm speaking on behalf of

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so many amazing people that

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have done different things,

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so I don't, I don't want

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to claim all the credit,

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but I definitely want to

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tell you about lots of the

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different things, that we

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collectively have done.

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One of the things that I'm

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still amazed by is during

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the Covid Pandemic, when the

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big mass vaccination centers

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were set up, our specialist

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intellectual disability

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health team, Led the creation

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of an accessible pathway

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to the southwestern Sydney

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mass vaccination center.

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It involved things

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like, alternative

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entry, a quiet room.

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Social stories to

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prepare people for the

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vaccination, and any kind

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of adaptations that were

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needed to help a person with

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particularly intellectual

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disability, access

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their covid vaccination.

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And one of the things

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that told us that, that

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was really successful, Is

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that lots of the people

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who were supported by the

{{00:01:48}}
team to access their first

{{00:01:50}}
vaccination actually went

{{00:01:52}}
and independently accessed

{{00:01:54}}
their second, third subsequent

{{00:01:56}}
vaccinations without that

{{00:01:58}}
same level of support.

{{00:01:59}}
So we knew that the work

{{00:02:01}}
that had been done up

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front was really empowering

{{00:02:03}}
people to access that

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service on their own.

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And the other really amazing

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thing that came out of that

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is that the staff working

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at that center were able to

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identify people who needed

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some kind of adjustment to the

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delivery of their vaccination

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so they could stream people

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onto that supportive pathway,

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even without the specialist

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intellectual disability health

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team having to initiate the

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movement onto that pathway.

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One of the, the major

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ways that we do that is

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in our health district.

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We've got the disability

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and carers network that is

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spread across our hospitals

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and our community services.

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So every hospital and

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community service has

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a disability and carers

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committee that's made up

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of managers, staff from

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the service and consumers.

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And the role of those

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committees is to really

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influence, and support

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the implementation of

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our disability and carer

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strategy, that has lots and

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lots of different things

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that we are doing and we

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want to do to improve the

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overall accessibility of

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our services for people

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with disability and support

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to people who are carers.

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Safe, person centered

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healthcare and positive

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experiences are at the core

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of everything that we do,

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regardless of whether a person

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has a disability or not.

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But we can talk about

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some of our specific

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initiatives that are

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directed particularly towards

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people with disabilities.

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So for example, Southwestern

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Sydney Local Health District

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has a specialist intellectual

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disability health team, and

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that's a team that's part

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of a network across New

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South Wales In all of the,

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local health districts, so

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the specialist intellectual

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disability health team is

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there to provide comprehensive

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health assessment advice,

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recommendations for people who

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have intellectual disability

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and who also are having,

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a complex health need that

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they're struggling to have

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met through usual care,

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so the team can do that

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really extensive assessment,

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make recommendations,

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and support the person's

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usual health supports

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teams, professionals

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in meeting those needs.

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And that team is also there

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to build the capacity of

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our health district more

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broadly, so that every

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service can be as supportive

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as possible to people with

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intellectual disability.

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So Southwestern Sydney is

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also one of the first health

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districts in New South Wales

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to have a specific service

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targeted towards people

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transitioning from specialized

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pediatrics or specialized

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children's health services

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to adult health services.

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We know that this can be

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a difficult transition.

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Those two systems are set up

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in quite different ways, and

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that coincides with the time

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that people are moving from

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their parents guiding their

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healthcare and supporting them

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to manage their complex health

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needs to actually being adults

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and doing that independently.

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So our service has a

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transition facilitator who is

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there to help identify needs

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early before a person turns

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18, and start that process of

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preparation with the person,

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with their family, with their

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specialist pediatric health

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services, and to support

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that really coordinated

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linkage with the adult health

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services that they need.

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Telehealth has been coming

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for a long time, and health

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services have been slowly

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moving towards providing

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more and more services

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through Telehealth.

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But the onset of the

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Covid Pandemic really

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accelerated that.

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It made it go much, much

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faster, particularly when

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services like our health

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district had to very

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suddenly shift to providing.

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Almost all of our

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outpatient and community

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services via telehealth.

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And that was a great

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opportunity because

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we learned where

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telehealth could actually

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improve accessibility.

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But also at the same time,

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we learned where telehealth

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isn't actually the best fit.

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And where a more traditional

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kind of service delivery,

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seeing a person face to

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face is the better fit.

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So really where we're

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going now is being able

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to identify the right kind

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of service delivery to

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maximize accessibility,

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but also to best meet a

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person's health needs.

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So we have lots of different

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ways of measuring whether

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we're doing a good job or not.

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We take feedback from people.

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We measure different

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types of statistics, but

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Southwestern Sydney has a very

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particular strategy called

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Transforming Your Experience,

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which is about anyone that

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engages with our service

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having a really positive.

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And constructive experience.

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So some of the strategies that

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sit under the transforming

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your experience umbrella

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involve really proactive

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connection with our

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consumers throughout their

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healthcare journey to find

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out what they need to find

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out, what we might need

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to do differently, and to

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really take the learnings

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from their healthcare

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experience to tell us what

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we should keep doing well.

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And what we need to improve.

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One of the transforming

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your experience strategies

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that we use is to collect

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feedback from people who've

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received services from us,

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and we've just recently been

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able to identify feedback

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that comes specifically

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from people who tell us

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they have a disability.

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That's really only

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just happened.

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So I'm really, really excited

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over the next couple of months

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to find out what the feedback

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from people with disability

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really, really tells us.

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We're always doing things

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to try and improve.

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So some of the specific things

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that we are working on now is

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trying to increase the number

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of people with disability

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working in our organization.

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Improving the communication

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accessibility of our services.

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And one of the things I'm

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really excited about because

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it's a team that I'll be

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working with, we're bringing

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together a team of people

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whose job is specifically

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to go into our hospitals

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and work alongside the

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teams in those hospitals to

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better identify the needs

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of people with complex

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disabilities and to support

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those teams in modifying

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the way we deliver our care.

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So that they really, really do

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meet the needs of those people

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with complex disabilities.

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We are calling them

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disability navigators.

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We've already recruited them.

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They haven't started yet.

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They should start in the

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next couple of weeks, and

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I'm just really excited

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to see what we're able

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to do with that team.

Expert Insight

In this insightful interview, Dr Katherine Kelly, the Disability and NDIS Coordinator at Southwestern Sydney Local Health District (LHD), shares remarkable initiatives that have revolutionized healthcare accessibility for individuals with disabilities. From innovative approaches to collaborative partnerships and personalized healthcare, 

Join us to explore the journey of breaking down barriers and pioneering healthcare access for people with disabilities


Disability

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Dr Katherine Kelly

Disability & NDIS Coordinator

Innovative approaches

Collaborative partnerships

Tailored healthcare

Technology for accessibility

Measuring impact and future goals

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Perspective on Disabilities (9).png

Breaking barriers in healthcare: enhancing accessibility for people with disabilities