Digital health autonomy for people with communication or swallowing disability and the Sustainable Development Goal 10 of reducing inequalities and Goal 3 of good health and well-being.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this article is to explore the Sustainable Development Goal of reduced inequalities (SDG 10) in relation to the experiences of people with communication disability with lived experiences and their access to self-determined healthcare. As such, the article also informs the goal of good health and well-being (SDG 3).

METHOD

In preparing this article the authors reviewed recent literature on digital health records and digital autonomy as a means to improving equity of access and explored the experiences of two of the authors as people with severe communication disability who use a wide range of digital health technologies in pursuing safe and quality health care. The literature and their experiences highlight a need for improved co-design and usage across disability and health service systems management if e-health records are to be used to reduce inequalities in accessing healthcare.

RESULT

Recent research and the lived experiences of the first two authors reflect that e-health information systems, designed to improve the consumer's ability to access and share their own health information, are not used to full advantage in disability and healthcare environments.

CONCLUSION

Increased access to multimodal communication strategies and communication technologies, along with user-centred co-design that enables digital health autonomy will further progress towards reduced inequalities (SDG 10) and good health and well-being (SDG 3) and for people with communication or swallowing disability.