The Canadian Health Services Access survey estimates that 12-14% of Canadians do not have access to a family doctor, and a recent national poll suggests that access is declining.

Where problems like this exist in the general population, they are sure to be more acute and more serious in disadvantaged populations.

Access problems in the general population (such as wait times and geographical distribution) result in delays and inconvenience in obtaining primary care.

Access problems associated with disability actually prevent people with disabilities from receiving service.

Additional reason for access problems among people with disabilities include:

• office and examining tables that are not suitable for someone with a wheelchair or other mobility device

• transportation problems

• practice-level policies about appointment times, home visits and office assistance that fail to address the needs of disabled patients

• health care providers who are not sufficiently aware of disability information or issues.

Here are some suggestions if you want to take action and make your voice heard:

• Recognize that this is exactly the right time to do something about this issue, when government is highlighting primary care as one of its top priorities.

• Work together with other individuals and organizations to attract the attention of policy makers in the Ministry of Health & Long Term Care to issues of people with disabilities in primary care.

• Contact the new Minister Responsible for Disability Issues to let her know that you believe that primary care should be a priority in implementing the new Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities

Take Action

More suggestions if you want to take action and make your voice heard:

• Talk to your family doctor about how you can work together to ensure that you are receiving the best possible primary care within the context of his or her practice.

• Remember that medical practitioners are motivated by a genuine desire to do good, and, in all likelihood, your family doctor is as anxious as you are to ensure that you receive excellent care.

• Collaborate with researchers whenever possible to produce a better understanding of the issues of disabled people access in primary

Addressing the Primary Care Needs of People with Disabilities

Would you be surprised to discover that…

• disabled patients are less likely to be examined when they come to the doctor’s office with a problem?

• family doctors can decline to take on disabled patients because their care takes too much time?

• doctors’ offices don’t have to be accessible to people in wheelchairs

• the kind of care a disabled person gets differs depending on how the doctor is paid?

• primary care reform is not currently addressing issues of people with disabilities?

For More Information

Over the past four years, researchers at Queen’s Centre for Health Services & Policy Research and Queen’s Centre for Studies in Primary Care have worked together to better understand issues involved in providing primary care to people with disabilities.

If you would like more information about their research, visit their website at: http://chspr.queensu.ca

or contact:

Mary Ann McColl, PhD
Centre for Health Services & Policy Research
Queen’s University
Kingston, ON K7L 3N6
Phone (613) 533-6353
Fax (613) 533-6387
mccollm@post.queensu.ca

Research Brief: Access to Primary Care for People with Disabilities

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