Human beings enjoy being independent, no matter how little the independence they enjoy the liberties they can take. Unfortunately, the world isn’t designed to cater to people with complex medical needs. Our duty and responsibility as a society are to arrange facilities and support to make lives more comfortable as they face many challenges.
Types of Physical or Complex Medical Needs
Physical and complex medical needs are multidimensional conditions due to which certain adjustments need to facilitate their living. There are many types of physical and complex medical needs such as:
- Vision problems that go beyond correcting lenses
- Deaf or difficulty in hearing.
- Mental health conditions.
- Intellectually challenged
- Brain injury due to an accident
- They’re on the autistic spectrum
- Physically they require assistance
Due to these medical issues, patients having these conditions face several challenges and problems in everyday life.
Challenges Faced By Complex Needs Patients and How to Remedy Them
- Accessibility
Accessibility is a broad topic for patients with complex and physical needs. It refers to the difficulties they face while trying to perform everyday tasks.
- Difficulty in Accessing Information
Many technological devices cater to regular people. They don’t cater to people otherwise. Cellphones and laptops, to be operated, need to be seen, held, felt, and worked on using fingers and various motions. It is challenging and extremely disadvantageous. It restricts these patients from accessing resources and information.
Companies should design products that cater to various medical problems such as voice recognition, voice over text, motion sensors for subtle movements, and a simple operating manual to help them. They should also be light in weight so they don’t injure themselves and can lift it.
For wheelchair users, technology has progressed enough to give them automatic wheelchairs. They should take it a step further and install computers or small screens to connect them to the World Wide Web.
- Access to Transportation
Public transports do not cater to these patients. Roads and pavements are not even, nor are they safe for wheelchair patients or walking cane users. Chances of accidentally falling or entering into dense traffic areas are high and potentially dangerous.
One solution to these issues is quite simple. They should receive non emergency medical transport to make it easy for them to maneuver about town safely. Another would be to design pavements with concrete barriers so that patients don’t stroll onto the roads. It will help them feel where the pavement meets the road.
Educating able people on the road to be sensitive and considerate while driving and being patient while using the road is also crucial. Another helpful solution requires installing motion sensor robotics to identify patients from regular pedestrians and divert them accordingly.
- Access to Buildings
High-rise buildings are designed with staircases and even though most have elevators, entering the buildings is difficult. Their flooring is too smooth and polished with no grip for the sole and can lead to an accident or potential injury.
While designing buildings, there should always be multiple entering points for visitors paying close attention to building ramps for wheelchair patients, having a rail with grips on the flooring for cane using patients, and elevators close to the entrance.
- Trouble in Receiving Adequate Healthcare. Patients with complex medical needs are particularly vulnerable to mistreatment within hospitals. Nurses may not adequately deal with intellectually challenged patients, leading them to get mistreated and subjected to frustration. Not all healthcare services may be designed to use for them, such as machinery that requires them to stay still. It may get overwhelming for them while filling out their information sheets and providing comprehensive history. It should be provided with hospital assistance to interpret and communicate with them to fill in the gaps.
Healthcare providers are there for the people, and they should pull the extra mile in accommodating and caring for these patients. There should always be assistive devices present for these patients. There should be a range of health care professional ready to weigh in, including:
- Audiologists
- Psychologists
- Optometrists
- Occupational Therapists
- Physical Therapists
- Proper Healthcare At Home
There are specific arrangements that need to be made for their comfort. Homecare is not easy for both the caregiver and care receiver. Caregivers must take the initiative in ensuring they’re taking the necessary precautions to make their living easy and comfortable.
- Replace regular beds with medical beds
It allows the patient a degree of independence to use the mattress to assist them in sitting up or lying down. The rails present on the side presets the patient from toppling over. The bed can also be adjusted to fit their bodies’ demands, unlike regular beds.
- Hire an adequately trained nurse
Using facilities such as the bathroom, eating meals, and walking can prove to be a challenge. A trained nurse can help them consume their meals complying with their dietary requirements, allow them to use the bathroom, or change their bedpan. Administer their daily dosage of medicine for routine and in case of emergencies.
- Trouble in School
Schooling and pursuing education can get quite restrictive when teachers and schools ignore patients with medical needs that require more attention than their peers. Schools can make learning easier for them by:
Keep Textbooks in multiple formats: Such as audiobooks, larger fonts, and books in Braille.
Hire assistance for them: Patients need a trained professional who would help them do their schoolwork, addressing their concerns, know how to tackle an episode, and provide therapy and care when they require isolation from others.
Keep activities for them to participate in: Aggressive sports such as basketball may be tenacious for them. After consulting specialists, they should arrange friendly activities and not aggravate their existing condition; instead, they should help them feel like a part of a community and encourage positive emotions and learning.
Everyone Deserves Compassion
No matter who is struggling and for what reason, everyone deserves compassion. Lend a hand today, make someone’s life easier. Patients suffering from special needs should be seen beyond their limitations, and there should be an attempt to understand them.
With so many resources available on the internet, it is now easier than ever to educate ourselves and others on incorporating technology and robotics to facilitate their needs and educate ourselves on their conditions. There should always be kindness and acceptance for all.