1 min
Poor communication causes avoidable deaths in healthcare Sixty Second Spotlight
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- Society & Culture
Good communication is essential to good healthcare. In this research podcast, learning disability nurse Professor Ruth Northway explores how communication tools can improve access to appropriate healthcare for people with learning disabilities.
Find out more: southwales.ac.uk/research
Hello and welcome to Sixty Second Spotlight. I’m Ruth Northway, Professor of Learning Disability Nursing at the University of South Wales. My research focuses on the health and well-being of people with learning disabilities and ways to improve their access to healthcare.
Over recent weeks Covid-19 has caused many of us to worry about our health and whether we can get access to healthcare when we need it. However, concerns regarding access to healthcare are unfortunately everyday experiences for people with learning disabilities and their families.
Research undertaken at the University of South Wales has highlighted that a key barrier to access can be communication.
Our healthcare system relies on our ability to provide health staff with information about our current health concerns and our health history in a way they can easily understand. This can be challenging for people with learning disabilities some of whom may communicate non-verbally or have difficulties with recalling and processing information. They may require the support of family or carers to ensure that this information is available but Covid-19 has made it more difficult for such support to be provided.
One way of overcoming this problem is the use of communication tools to provide key information about an individual.
Recently we have been undertaking research commissioned by Improvement Cymru at Public Health Wales to develop an All Wales tool providing key health information for use by healthcare professionals to assist them in providing appropriate, safe and timely care. Covid-19 has shown just how important such tools are.
Good communication is essential to good healthcare. In this research podcast, learning disability nurse Professor Ruth Northway explores how communication tools can improve access to appropriate healthcare for people with learning disabilities.
Find out more: southwales.ac.uk/research
Hello and welcome to Sixty Second Spotlight. I’m Ruth Northway, Professor of Learning Disability Nursing at the University of South Wales. My research focuses on the health and well-being of people with learning disabilities and ways to improve their access to healthcare.
Over recent weeks Covid-19 has caused many of us to worry about our health and whether we can get access to healthcare when we need it. However, concerns regarding access to healthcare are unfortunately everyday experiences for people with learning disabilities and their families.
Research undertaken at the University of South Wales has highlighted that a key barrier to access can be communication.
Our healthcare system relies on our ability to provide health staff with information about our current health concerns and our health history in a way they can easily understand. This can be challenging for people with learning disabilities some of whom may communicate non-verbally or have difficulties with recalling and processing information. They may require the support of family or carers to ensure that this information is available but Covid-19 has made it more difficult for such support to be provided.
One way of overcoming this problem is the use of communication tools to provide key information about an individual.
Recently we have been undertaking research commissioned by Improvement Cymru at Public Health Wales to develop an All Wales tool providing key health information for use by healthcare professionals to assist them in providing appropriate, safe and timely care. Covid-19 has shown just how important such tools are.
1 min