ADA National Network Learning Session: Learning from Patients to Provide Accessible Healthcare and Effective Communication for Patients who are Blind or have Low Vision

In this presentation American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) will share the experiences of people who are blind or have low vision when seeking healthcare based on focus group research on patient health experiences. From these experiences, they identify ways providers can operationalize the ADA's requirements for healthcare accessibility to provide better care for these patients. Medical professionals and healthcare administrators will come away with techniques for working directly with patients as well as understanding where training and facility design can contribute to high quality, accessible patient care.

Learning objectives:

• Participants will be able to identify three barriers to effective communication and care for patients who are blind, low vision, or deafblind.
• Participants will be able to describe at least three techniques for providing competent and accessible care for patients who are blind or have low vision.

Presenters:

Dr. Arielle Silverman, is a Research Specialist at AFB with fifteen years of experience. Before joining AFB, Dr. Silverman was an independent consultant who conducted research on the experiences of people who are blind and low-vision and provided trainings with organizations on effective communication with people with disabilities.

Dr. Carlie Rhoads is the Program Metrics and Evaluation Specialist at the American Foundation for the Blind where she is part of a team that engages in research on a wide variety of topics and provides program evaluation support. Prior to joining AFB, Dr. Rhoads was the Director of the Oregon Deafblind Project, where she supported children with deafblindness, from birth to age 22.

Melanie Peskoe, Public Policy and Research Coordinator at the American Foundation for the Blind, holds a master's degree in Public Health with a focus on health communication. As a person born legally blind, she has both professional and personal experience advocating for effective communication in healthcare settings for people with disabilities.